Critique of the Gotha Program

Book excerpt: Offering perhaps Marx's most detailed pronouncement on programmatic matters of revolutionary strategy, The Critique of the Gotha Program discusses the "dictatorship of the proletariat", the period of transition from capitalism to communism, proletarian internationalism and the party of the working class. It is notable also for elucidating the principles of "To each according to his contribution" as the basis for a "lower phase" of communist society directly following the transition from capitalism and "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" as the basis for a future "higher phase" of communist society. In describing the lower phase, he states that "the individual receives from society exactly what he gives to it" and advocates remuneration in the form of non-transferable labor vouchers as opposed to money. The Critique of the Gotha Program, published after his death, was among Marx's last major writings.