Democratic Socialism and Socialism Are Increasingly Salient Among Democrats
By David Guirgis and Kirby Phares
The U.S. has a long history of stigma against socialism, inciting two Red Scares at home while toppling socialist governments abroad. But in recent years, several politicians — including Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman — and organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have helped to elevate the terms “socialism” and “democratic socialism” in American politics.
To gauge support and enthusiasm for the political ideologies of capitalism, socialism, and democratic socialism, Data for Progress conducted a national survey of likely voters. Voters were initially asked how they felt about the following ideologies: capitalism, socialism, and democratic socialism. They were then presented with descriptions of each ideology before answering the same question again. The survey finds that Democrats are the only party to hold favorable views of democratic socialism and socialism, both before and after being presented with ideology descriptions; in fact, both ideologies outpace capitalism among self-identified Democrats. In addition, favorability of democratic socialism increases dramatically among voters of all partisan identities — Democrats, Independents, and Republicans — after they are introduced to messaging describing the ideology.
Democrats hold more positive views of democratic socialism than capitalism
Our polling finds that while capitalism remains the preferred political ideology among likely voters overall, Democrats are especially receptive to the politics and values of democratic socialism and socialism.
Voters were first asked which political ideology they preferred without ideology descriptions included. The results show that capitalism is the only political ideology to hold topline positive favorability at +26 points. Among Republicans and Independents, this trend continues; capitalism as an ideology holds +46 points of support and +31 points of support among these partisan identities, respectively.
But among Democrats polled, capitalism is not the top-performing political ideology. Democratic socialism holds a +35-point margin of support and socialism holds a +25-point margin of support, followed by capitalism, which has only a +3-point margin of support. Meanwhile, democratic socialism holds -77 points of net favorability among Republicans and -35 points of net favorability among self-identified Independents.
Descriptions of democratic socialism prove highly salient with Democratic voters
We then introduced descriptions of each political ideology to voters. Voters were first asked to choose the better fit between two competing descriptions of the same ideology, and then asked again which ideology they preferred.
Voters were first asked to choose which definition of capitalism most closely fits their understanding of the ideology: either “a system that creates income inequality because the economy is controlled by a small group of wealthy individuals and organizations who control prices and production” or “a system that promotes the American dream and the freedom to pursue individual interests because the public regulates prices and production instead of the government.” Among Independents and Republicans, the latter definition holds strong identification (+25 points among Independents and +52 points among Republicans). But among Democrats, the margin of preference for this definition is only +4 points.
Next, voters were asked to choose which of the following definitions of both democratic socialism and socialism most closely fit their understandings of the ideologies: either “a system where the government empowers workers to have a say in the economy and provides people with health care, housing, free education, a clean environment, and assistance to those in financial need” or “a system where a centralized government has total control over the economy and business, forces people to rely on the state, restricts innovation and competition, and does not allow individuals to grow their wealth.” A majority of Democrats and Independents believe the first statement more closely fits their understanding of both democratic socialism and socialism, while Republicans think the second statement is more fitting. Additionally, both Democrats and Republicans more closely associate the first statement to the term “democratic socialism” than “socialism.” While 77 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans believe the first definition more closely fits their understanding of democratic socialism, 66 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of Republicans associate the same definition with socialism.
Favorability of democratic socialism increases across party lines after ideology descriptions are introduced
We then find that, after introducing these ideology descriptions, the margin of support for democratic socialism increases by +6 points among voters overall. Among Democrats, who already support democratic socialism by wide margins, favorability increases from a +35-point margin of support to a +46-point margin of support. Meanwhile, socialism’s topline support increases by only +1 point among voters overall and by +4 points among Democrats.
Ultimately, we find Democratic likely voters are more closely aligned with democratic socialism and socialism than with capitalism, though capitalism retains strong topline support. Furthermore, Democrats and Independents more closely associate democratic socialism and socialism with positive descriptions than negative ones. We also find that showing voters descriptions of democratic socialism increases Democratic support for the ideology by +11 points.
Kirby Phares (@kirbyphares) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
David Guirgis is a writing fellow at Data for Progress.