Abstract
Recent political developments questioning the role of political parties in many advanced Western societies have raised the question of the future of the state in these societies. "State" in this context is understood as a special social formation that is defined by power relations of society. The future of the state means, then, the future development of power relations. Due to the historical development of societies, these developments are and will be different in different societies. A central and general mechanism of power in contemporary advanced capitalist societies is, however, the party system that has, among other things, a stabilizing effect on society. The crisis of the party system implies a crisis of the whole bourgeois state. However, the crisis is only a condition for change, and a possible change of power relations depends on the political skills of social actors. Moreover, the state has many opportunities to solve the crisis through its own apparatus-that is, by creating new mechanisms of legitimation or by using repressive measures against forces trying to change the society. The future of the state in advanced capitalist societies remains uncertain, and more historical research about political cultures of different states is needed to explain and predict the future development.
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