Gramsci Legal Political Function Concept Study

Antonio Gramsci, the founder of the Italian Communist Party, is also one of the most important Marxist theorists. As far as Gramsci is concerned, he believes that the development of the modern capitalism commodity economy results in the gradual separation between civil society and political society in modern states and also that the capitalists, different from the former feudal aristocracy social class in ther conservation and ossification, display puralism and flexibility and to a certain extent absorb and assimilate the whole society. It's the social structure and class composition change that promote the revolutionary turn of the modern state function and legal function. Gramsci discriminated the two major layers in the overtop structure of the modern state structure: cival society and political society. In the civial society, the state is taking the leading role or hegemony in maintaining the ruling class culture or ideology; while in the political society, force is employed to rule. The ruling class needs to maintain force in political society as well as cultural hegemony in civil society. Law is playing an important political role in both layers. The non-violence and non-force features of civil society make it possible for the state and law to present itself as mentors, persuading the ruled class to be obedient to its ruling class. In the view of Gramsci, law is an effective stimuli to human civilization, social advancement and changes in both social conventions and ways of living. However, law always serve the interest of the ruling class in its political practice, i.e., the basic function of law lies in its political function. And this function of law is realized through its leaders, organizors and reformers—its party and intellectuals. An in-depth research on the legal thoughts from the perspective of Gramsci culture hegemony theory could no doubt shed light on the implementation of China's strategic objective, which is to govern the country by law and construct a law-abiding socilaist country, and importance and urgency of constucting modern legal socialist culture in China.