Whereas the instrumentalist position argues that the institutions of the state are under the direct control of those members of the capitalist class in positions of state power, the structuralist perspective takes the position that the institutions of the state must function in such a way as to ensure ongoing viability of capitalism more generally. Another way that Marxists put this is that the institutions of the state must function so as to reproduce capitalist society as a whole. The Miliband-Poulantzas debate between instrumentalist Ralph Miliband and structuralist Nicos Poulantzas characterized the debate between structural and instrumental Marxists.[3]