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No serious consideration of the theory of democracy needs explanation or apology today. The scope and limitations of the present treatment of the subject, however, should be made clear at the outset. The object of this article is to deal with the political philosophy of democracy, or, more precisely, with attempts to ground democratic doctrine on first principles of right. Clearly this does not constitute a complete treatment of democratic theory. Such a treatment would have to deal, inter alia, with the practical operation of democratic processes under varying conditions. Probably the bulk of any full-length discussion of the theory of democracy should be devoted to such matters. Yet, essential though these considerations are, the problem with which this paper deals is of fundamental importance. For, in general, it may be said of all the "practical" arguments about democracy that whatever validity they have must depend upon some theory of ethics, upon some assumption as to the things that are valuable in this world. In other words, I shall not here concern myself with arguments that in practice democracy is less objectionable than other forms of government, because I feel the inadequacy of such arguments considered by themselves.

Professor Hans Kelsen is the leading exponent of the "pure" theory of law, which is attracting a great deal of attention abroad but as yet has received scant notice in the United States. His theory marks the culmination of the tendency toward a strictlylegaltheory, represented in the writings of K. F. von Gerber, Paul Laband, and Georg Jellinek. This movement aims to eliminate all purely metaphysical postulates—such as the natural law concepts—from legal theory, as well as to free it from the political tint which it so often manifests. It also endeavors to separate the validity of law from dependence on any personal authority.This attempt to "depersonalize" law is the last stage of a development that began with the passing of absolutism. At that time, ideas of a "general will" and of popular sovereignty—attended by a demand for "a government of laws and not of men" and by the introduction of the principle of separation of powers—made their appearance, only to be supplanted, more recently, by the concept of theRechtsstaat.

Cover -- THE THEORY OF CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- PREFACE TO THE 1956 PRINTING -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE. VALUE AND SURPLUS VALUE -- I. MARX'S METHOD -- 1. The Use of Abstraction -- 2. The Historical Character of Marx's Thought -- II. THE QUALITATIVE-VALUE PROBLEM -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Use Value -- 3. Exchange Value -- 4. Labor and Value -- 5. Abstract Labor -- 6. The Relation of the Quantitative to the Qualitative in Value Theory -- 7. The Fetish Character of Commodities -- III. THE QUANTITATIVE-VALUE PROBLEM -- 1. The First Step -- 2. The Role of Competition -- 3. The Role of Demand -- 4. 'Law of Value' vs. 'Planning Principle' -- 5. Value and Price of Production -- 6. Monopoly Price -- IV. SURPLUS VALUE AND CAPITALISM -- 1. Capitalism -- 2. The Origin of Surplus Value -- 3. The Components of Value -- 4. The Rate of Surplus Value -- 5. The Organic Composition of Capital -- 6. The Rate of Profit -- PART TWO. THE ACCUMULATION PROCESS -- V. ACCUMULATION AND THE RESERVE ARMY -- 1. Simple Reproduction -- 2. The Roots of Accumulation -- 3. Accumulation and the Value of Labor Power-The Problem Stated -- 4. Marx's Solution-The Reserve Army of Labor -- 5. The Nature of the Capitalist Process -- VI. THE FALLING TENDENCY OF THE RATE OF PROFIT -- 1. Marx's Formulation of the Law -- 2. The Counteracting Causes -- 3. A Critique of the Law -- VII. THE TRANSFORMATION OF VALUES INTO PRICES -- 1. The Problem Stated -- 2. Marx's Solution -- 3. An Alternative Solution -- 4. A Corollary of the Bortkiewicz Method -- 5. The Significance of Price Calculation -- 6. Why Not Start with Price Calculation? -- PART THREE. CRISES AND DEPRESSIONS -- VIII. THE NATURE OF CAPITALIST CRISES -- 1. Simple Commodity Production and Crises -- 2. Say's Law -- 3. Capitalism and Crises -- 4. The Two Types of Crises.