Socialism vs. Social Democracy: Usage Guide
In the many years since
socialism entered English around 1830, it has acquired several different meanings. It refers to a system of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control, but the conception of that control has varied, and the term has been interpreted in widely diverging ways, ranging from
statist to libertarian, from
Marxist to liberal. In the modern era, "pure" socialism has been seen only rarely and usually briefly in a few Communist regimes. Far more common are systems of
social democracy, now often referred to as
democratic socialism, in which extensive state regulation, with limited state ownership, has been employed by democratically elected governments (as in Sweden and Denmark) in the belief that it produces a fair distribution of income without impairing economic growth.
Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, and Democracy
Communism is one of our top all-time lookups, and user comments suggest that’s because it is often used in opaque ways. In some sources,
communism is equated with
socialism; in others, it is contrasted with
democracy and
capitalism. Part of this confusion stems from the fact that the word
communism has been applied to varying political systems over time. When it was first used in English prose,
communism referred to an economic and political theory that advocated the abolition of private property and the common sharing of all resources among a group of people, and it was often used interchangeably with the word
socialism by 19th-century writers. The differences between communism and socialism are still debated, but generally English speakers used
communism to refer to the political and economic ideologies that find their origin in Karl Marx’s theory of revolutionary socialism, which advocates a proletariat overthrow of capitalist structures within a society, societal and communal ownership and governance of the means of production, and the eventual establishment of a classless society. The most well-known expression of Marx’s theories is the 20th-century Bolshevism of the U.S.S.R., in which the state, through a single authoritarian party, controls a society’s economy and social activities with the goal of realizing Marx’s theories.
Communism is often contrasted with
capitalism and
democracy, though these can be false equivalencies depending on the usage.
Capitalism refers to an economic theory in which a society’s means of production are held by private individuals or organizations, not the government, and where prices, distribution of goods, and products are determined by a free market. It can be contrasted with the economic theories of communism, though the word
communism is used of both political and economic theories.
Democracy refers to a system of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised through a system of direct or indirect representation which is decided through periodic free elections. Democracy is contrasted with communism primarily because the 20th-century communism of the U.S.S.R. was characterized by an authoritarian government, whereas the democracy of the 20th-century U.S. was characterized by a representative government.
