Page - 259 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

state, democracy, socialism 259 hewasawareofits intrinsiccontradictionbetweeneconomicpowerandpolit- icalequalityofallclasses.Becauseit tiedinwithhisvisionofafuturestate,he dedicatedmostofhisattentiontothisuntil thelate1920s. Bauer admitted onmore than one occasion that the victory of bourgeois democracywas also beneficial for theworking class because it expedited its political, if not social, emancipation. LikeMarx, hebelieved that democracy couldonlybefullyrealisedinaclasslesssociety,whereeconomicfactorscould no longer compromise the freedom and equality of all. Even in his earliest writings, Bauer spoke of the necessity for the proletariat to use democracy for its advantageand,byextension, for the liberationofhumanity.Many the- orists of Western Social Democracy, such as Kautsky and Renner, but also MieczysławNiedziałkowski and other Polish Social Democrats, agreed that bourgeoisdemocracywasthemostfavourableplatformfortheproletarianlib- eration struggle. Theybelieved thatparliamentwasa trainingground for the workingclasstoprepareforpower,apropagandaplatformforsocialist ideas,a meansofpoliticaleducation,and,aboveall, a tool forgarneringsupport from beyondtheremitoftheworkingclass.InBauer’sopinion,thelattertwoaspects wereparticularly important.According tohis ideaof revolution,winning the parliamentarymajoritywouldpreludetheautonomousseizureofpowerbythe workingclassandusher inaneraofsocial revolution. Formostofhis life, Bauer’spolitical activitywasdefinedbyhis conviction that parliamentary democracywould allow the proletariat to transform the capitalist system into a socialist order peacefully. This is certainlywhyLeser believes that, for Bauer, parliamentary democracywas nothingmore than a transitional stage on the road to socialism.27One should exercise somecau- tionwiththisassessment,however.Bauer,whoalsowroteapamphletentitled ‘UmdieDemokratie’(‘FortheSakeofDemocracy’),primarilyrecognisedpolit- icaldemocracyasanobjective in itsownright,yetat thesametimevaluedits relevance for the Social-Democratic strategy. Bauer’s confidence in the valu- loren: dass die bürgerlicheDemokratie eben noch nichtMehrheitsherrschaft, sondern MinderheitsherrschaftderGroßbourgeoisiemittelsMehrheitsregierungderbürgerlichen Massenparteien ist, unddass anderseits geradedieNotwendigkeitenderMehrheitsreg- ierung der Klassenherrschaft der Großbourgeoisie Schranken setzen und dadurch die Demokratie von der Diktatur, der schrankenlosen Herrschaft unterscheiden’ – Bauer 1980r,p.208. 27 SeeLeser1968,p.84. It isanundisputedfactthattheparty leadershipunderBaueropted for a peaceful road to socialism in themost important historicalmoments of the First Republic, i.e. July 1927,March 1933, andFebruary 1934. In these situations,differencesof opinionbetweenpartywingswereirrelevant.