"And people think they have taken quite an extraordinary bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another," Frederick Engels wrote 120 years ago in his introduction to The Civil War in France.

If Marxist Frederick Engels could succeed Alex Trebek as the host of one of America's favorite TV quiz shows, the final Jeopardy! clue in the category "Political Economy" could go like this: They "alternately take possession of the state power and exploit it by the most corrupt means and for the most corrupt ends." The correct answer would be: "What are the Democratic and Republican parties?"