 They were not opposed to the concept of the state as such and envisaged a popular revolutionary dictatorship.They rejected parliamentary democracy as a mere 'lightning rod of popular discontent' (whereas a parliamentary democracy was one of the cardinal demands of the PSR).The Maximalists claimed that what was needed was a population imbued with a general 'toilers' consciousness' and a small, energetic minority, forming a disciplined secret organisation that would seize power and establish a 'Toilers' Republic'.