MARX AND THE DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE OVER THE CONSTITUTION IN 1848–9 Igor Shoikhedbrod 1,2 Abstract: This article revisits Marx’s largely neglected journalistic writings during the 1848–9 period. Marx was an active participant in the March Revolution of 1848 and documented its rise and defeat as the editor-in-chief of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie. Marx was unequivocal in his support for consti- tutionalism and the struggle for advancing civil and political rights across the German territories, as well as in France. Even as the liberal bourgeoisie sought a treacherous compromise with the Prussian Crown and the forces of restoration in both countries, Marx was adamant that a constitutional revolution could furnish the working class with weapons for achieving political power and help to lay the foundation for a more emancipatory polity. Marx’s journalistic writings during this period provide valuable insights about the importance of restraining executive power and expanding the scope for democratic politics. Keywords: Marx, Engels, social question, 1848 revolutions, Tocqueville, two-track strategy, Neue Rheinische Zeitung, democratic constitution, rights, jury trial, restora- tion, permanent revolution. The European Revolutions of 1848 were directed primarily against the clutches of unrestrained monarchy and the decrepit feudal social orders that pervaded most of Europe. The March Revolution of 1848 was, by Karl Marx’s account, a ‘bourgeois’ revolution that failed to deliver on its promise of consti- tutionalism. Marx was an active participant in that revolution and docu- mented its rise and defeat as editor-in-chief of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie. Looking back, Marx was unequivocal in his support for democratic constitutionalism and the struggle for the advancement of civil and political rights across the German territories, as well as in France. Even as the liberal bourgeoisie sought a compromise with the Crown and the forces of restoration in both countries, Marx was adamant that such a constitutional revolution would furnish the working class with weapons for achieving politi- cal power and laying the foundation for a more emancipatory polity. Rather than representing an incoherent political strategy, as Gareth Stedman Jones has recently argued, 3 Marx’s dual support for democratic constitutionalism and the long-term political supremacy of a proletarian majority represented a HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT. Vol. XLIII. No. 2. Summer 2022 1 Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University, Canada. Email: igor. shoikhedbrod@dal.ca 2 I am grateful to the following individuals for their constructive feedback and criti- cisms on earlier drafts: Edward Andrew, Terrell Carver, Jürgen Herres, August Nimtz, Jonathan Sperber, Omar Garcia, Iain Hampsher-Monk, and two anonymous reviewers from History of Political Thought. 3 G. Stedman Jones, Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion (Cambridge MA, 2016), p. 271. Copyright (c) Imprint Academic For personal use only -- not for reproduction