What Is the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, and How Does It Differ From the Bourgeois State?

Lennon: The commune ceased to be a state in so far as it had to repress, not the majority of the population, but a minority the exploiters. In the place of a special repressive force, the whole population itself came on to the scene. All of this is a departure from the state in its proper sense. And had the commune asserted itself as a lasting power, remnants of the state of themselves have withered away within it. It would not have been necessary to abolish its institutions. They would have ceased to function in proportion as less and less was left for them to do. This leads well into the next question, which is, what is the dictatorship