divided between hostile social classes that the state exists". The state is seen as a mechanism dominated by the interests of the ruling class. It subjugates other classes, to protect and legitimize the existing economic system. After a proletarian revolution, the state would initially become the instrument of the proletariat. Conquest of the state by the proletariat is a prerequisite to establishing a socialist system. As socialism is built, the role and scope of the state changes. Class distinctions, based on ownership of the means of production, gradually deteriorate. The concentration of means of production increasingly falls into state hands. Once all means of production become state property, the primary function of the state changes. Political rule via coercion over men diminishes through the creation and enforcement of laws, scientific administration and the direction of the processes of production. As a result, the state becomes an entity of economic coordination rather than a mechanism of class or political control and is no longer a state in the Marxian sense. See also Capitalist mode of production Communism Critique of political economy Economic planning Green socialism Law of value Marxism Marxian economics Mode of production Post-capitalism Primary stage of socialism Production for use Relations of production Scientific socialism Socialist calculation debate Socialist economics Socialisation Yellow socialism References Economic ideologies Economic systems Marxian economics Materialism Political ideologies Political movements