By the administrative state, I mean Lenin’s idea of a ‘non-political’ state in which the majority of society actively participates in the administration of the state. This is paired with the concept of socialist democracy, ‘democracy for the majority’ as capitalist democracy was for the minority.

Eventually, as nearly the whole of the people have made a habit of the systems of administration, of bookkeeping and of managing, the state begins to wither away. At the end, as class distinctions have been practically eradicated, the state loses its political character and its functions are reduced to mere bookkeeping. It is sweeped into the ‘dustbin of history’, next to the ‘Museum of Antiquities’, as Engels put it.

Could mass participation in parties like say the CPC, which has ~100 million members be considered an expression of this? Or have we not reached nearly far enough in the development of Socialism in any country to reach this stage?

I just thought this was a really interesting concept in The State and Revolution, people usually don’t explain how exactly the state will wither away, but Lenin’s theory here seems to be quite sound.