26 SOCIAL SCIENTIST because of strong institutions of the state-systems. It has led some Marxists like Poulantzas and Offe to characterise capitalist democratic states as 'relatively autonomous' and 'class struggle states' because the working class has access to it and it can struggle for its interests. Such a struggle has to be based on political and democratic action within the capitalist states. While the western Marxists are modifying their theory on class struggle, the defenders see a lot of resilience in the western democratic state-systems for managing societal conflicts. Gabriel A. Almond observes: 'Democratic welfare capitalism produces the reconciliation of opposing and complementary elements which make possible the survival, even enhancement of both of these sets of institutions. It is not a static accommodations, but rather one which fluctuates over time, with capitalism being compromised by the tax-transfer-regulatory action of the state at one point, and then correcting in the direction of the reduction of the intervention of the state at another point, and with a learning process over time this may reduce the amplitude of the curves'.2 The state-systems in the western capitalist societies claim cohesion within the state and its capabilities to manage social conflicts because of evolved institutional arrangements for governance. Many factors have facilitated the stabilization of the western state-systems during the last four decades of the twentieth century. Social contradictions and political upheavels are not unknown to the European and North-American state systems during the last three centuries, but the stage of stabilized state-systems has arrived because of inner coherence which is linked with the decline of divisive ideologies and the emergence of pre-eminent ideology of democratic welfare capitalism and consensual politics. The logic of defenders of the western capitalist state-systems is based on an understanding of the state on the basis of its role, capabilities and legitimacy and the explanations follow from the success of their democratic welfare capitalist state-systems. In their understanding, social contradictions of an antagonistic nature leading to class struggles and class wars are non-existing in the contemporary capitalist societies and the success of their state-systems lie in their cohesion and capacity to resolve social conflicts. Thus understanding and explanations of the western capitalist state-systems are interlinked by linking democracy and capitalism. If such an approach is adopted to the understanding of the Indian state, qualitatively different kind of situation will have to be analysed because of the historical context of the Indian state. What is the level of cohesion within the Indian state? What is the level of legitimacy and ideological hegemony enjoyed by the Indian state? What is the level of homogeneity of the Indian ruling classes? What is the level of integration among the institutions of the State?