What Is a Democratic Socialist?

Democratic socialism and social democracy often get mixed up, but they differ in key ways.

Social democrats, especially those in Western Europe and Nordic countries, support social democratic parties that endorse capitalism but push for robust welfare states.

These policies include universal health care, free public education, and public ownership of certain key resources. For example, Norway’s oil industry is state-owned to fund welfare programs.

Democratic socialists, by contrast, believe that capitalism and socialism are inherently incompatible. While they often work within the current system, many democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to a socialist society through democratic means.

That includes ending private ownership of key industries and expanding democratic planning in the economy.

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) emphasize making essential services public. For instance, they advocate single-payer health care (Medicare for All), a right to housing through expanded public housing, and public ownership of the electric power grid.

The organization’s national political committee works to coordinate policy among its various chapters. DSA members aim to establish socialism not through revolution but through the ballot box and mass organizing.

They promote democracy powered by the multiracial working class united against the capitalist class.

Their vision pushes for economic democracy, where decisions about work and production reflect the needs of communities, not corporations. This includes support for workers’ self-management and opposition to the owning class profiting from public resources.

Democratic socialists oppose capitalist systems that prioritize private profit over public well-being. They are also critical of state socialism, which centralizes power and limits democratic freedoms.

Democratic socialists oppose communist parties that suppress political democracy and enforce top-down control.

Many democratic socialists instead favor market socialism: combining a market economy with social ownership and democratic planning.

This vision allows for small-scale private businesses while transforming key economic drivers into publicly owned and democratically governed institutions.

The democratic socialist movement has roots in reformist socialism and gained momentum in the late 20th century as an alternative to both laissez-faire capitalism and rigid state socialism.

In the U.S., the DSA has become the largest socialist organization, with rising DSA membership especially among younger voters and in urban areas like New York City.

The New York City chapter of the DSA has endorsed several successful democratic socialist candidates, leveraging grassroots power to challenge entrenched political forces.

The group’s work in campaigns for housing justice, labor rights, and the Green New Deal exemplifies how democratic socialists seek systemic transformation.

Some economists and analysts argue that dramatically expanding government control of industry could stifle innovation and create economic inefficiency, noting that historical socialist command economies often suffered from stagnation and poor performance.

Others—including centrist Democrats—contend that embracing socialist ideas is politically toxic and too radical.

Still, modern democratic socialists point to the failures of the capitalist class to meet basic needs and the appeal of economic democracy as a fairer alternative. Political scientists have noted how the democratic socialist label has gained traction, especially when tied to policy goals rather than ideological purity.

Most democratic socialists today embrace democratic socialism as a framework that respects civil liberties, promotes democratic decision-making, and seeks to redistribute power away from elites and toward the working class.

Through electoral victories and grassroots organizing, they are working to create a democratic republic that serves the many, not the few.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.