Two-stage Theory

The two-stage theory (or stagism) is the Marxist political theory which argues that underdeveloped countries, such as Tsarist Russia, must first pass through a stage of bourgeois democracy before moving to a socialist stage. The two stage theory was applied to countries worldwide which had not passed through the capitalist stage.

The discussion on stagism focuses on the Russian Revolution. However, Maoist theories, such as New Democracy, tend to apply a two-stage theory to struggles elsewhere. In the Soviet Union the two stage theory was opposed by the Trotskyist theory of permanent revolution.