Marx predicted that the exploitation of the laborers by all aspects of the bourgeoisie state would lead to the substantial increase in the proletariat class because the members of the lower middle class would "sink gradually into the proletariat, partly because their diminutive capital does not suffice for the scale on which the modern industry is carried on" (Marx). Marx concluded that this life long struggle would lead to the proletariat revolting and the collapse of the bourgeoisie economy. .
This differed from the view of Eduard Bernstein, who wrote "Evolutionary Socialism" in 1899. Bernstein agreed with the concepts set forth in the Communist Manifesto, but disagreed with Marx's take on the evolution of society. Bernstein explicitly states that he "was against the notion that we have to expect shortly the collapse of the bourgeois economy" and that this would lead to social democracy due to "the prospect of such an imminent, great social catastrophe" (Bernstein 1). This point allows Bernstein to part ways from the views of Marx because Marx had laid out the evolution of society and had stated that the bourgeoisie would fall due to the actions of the working class. Bernstein did not believe the social catastrophe would occur because the working class would continue to gain more power and wealth while society would continue to be more politically organized, diminishing the need for a great upheaval in the current social system. .
The two writers are similar in their thoughts as to what the role of the different citizens would be and the state's role would be. Both Bernstein and Marx see that in various forms, society has been divided up between the working class and the upper class, which controls the wealth. They both think that the working class will eventually overcome the conditions that society has put over them and control society.