Which countries are still socialist today?

Right-wing politicians often conjure up a caricature vision of socialism defined either by Soviet-style gulags or the authoritarianism and shortages seen in modern-day Venezuela.

But debates over the pros and cons of this ideology are often complicated by an inability – or unwillingness – to understand the true meaning of the term “socialist”.

What is socialism?

Socialism generally refers to any economic and political system based on public control or social ownership of economic resources.

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It predates Marxism, originating in the form of communal societies but, like Marxism, “modern socialism arose in the 19th century in response to the Industrial Revolution and what many perceived to be the excesses of capitalism”, said Investopedia. Growing from ideas of redistribution of wealth that developed during the Enlightenment, it emphasised the notion of the “collective good” over the individualist attitudes associated with capitalism, as well as “public ownership of the means of production”.

Early proponents of socialist thought, particularly in the first half of the 19th century, proposed a “more gradual, even voluntary, transfer of power from the wealthy to the working class”, said Investopedia.

Karl Marx saw socialism as an effective transitional ideology on the road from capitalism to communism. This means socialism “encompasses a broader spectrum of political beliefs” while socialist programmes and policies “can exist alongside capitalism in a society”. Socialists “may or may not see a communist system as their end goal”.

So which countries are actually socialist?

China

The People’s Republic of China was initially based on an economic system known as Maoism, after its founder Mao Zedong. After they established the People’s Republic, Mao and his government “got to work” establishing an agrarian communist system – but it had “more than a few problems”, said Big Think. During the second five-year plan, known as the Great Leap Forward, introduced in 1958, the “tendency for political goals to replace common sense had drastic consequences”. Incompetence, crackdowns and bad crop conditions caused a famine that killed tens of millions. Deng Xiaoping took over in 1978 and implemented what he called “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

For the first time in decades, farmers were allowed to sell the crops they grew, entrepreneurs were allowed to start businesses, and foreigners were allowed to invest in China.

This “get-out-of-jail card” for the party allowed the government “massive philosophical leeway to run a society which, in many ways, was not very socialist at all”, said the BBC. Its official policy combined one-party rule with state-controlled market mechanisms. But in recent years, Xi Jinping “appears to have decided that this is no longer acceptable”. To some extent, the Chinese government “has started putting the communist back in the Communist Party”.

Cuba

Cuba is perhaps the most undiluted example of a socialist system in action. It is a “one-party socialist republic, in which political power is vested solely in the Cuban Communist Party (PCC)”, said Reuters.

The socialist system is enshrined in the Cuban constitution, approved by referendum in 1976, while another referendum in 2002 made socialism “irrevocable”. The constitution designates the PCC as the “vanguard of the Cuban nation”, saying it “organises and directs common efforts toward the higher goals of construction of socialism and the advance toward communist society”. More than half of all working Cubans are employed by the state, and citizens receive government-subsidised food, healthcare and housing.

Laos

The southeast Asian nation of Laos was a French colony until 1953, and communist forces eventually overthrew the monarchy in 1975. It has technically remained communist ever since, but after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, “Laos began opening up to the world”, said the BBC.

Article 13 of the country’s constitution states: “All types of enterprises are equal before the laws and operate according to the principle of the market economy, competing and cooperating with each other to expand production and business while regulated by the State in the direction of socialism.”

But despite economic reforms, the country “remains poor and heavily dependent on foreign aid”, said the BBC. The ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party “exerts tight control over the media”, with the government owning most mainstream outlets.

Nevertheless, Laos offers “much value for those eager to understand the complexities involved in the building of socialism in very difficult conditions”, said Socialist Voice.

Vietnam

Bordering Laos, Vietnam describes its system as a “socialist-oriented market economy”. It has been officially communist since the 1970s, but was forced to adopt elements of market capitalism in a bid to revive its economy in the face of crippling Western sanctions imposed after the Vietnam War.

The Communist Party of Vietnam does this by allowing markets to exist, but only under strict state supervision or through state-owned enterprises.

Like many other socialist countries, Vietnam is “beset by high levels of corruption, political censorship and a poor record on human rights”, said the BBC. Against the backdrop of the “rivalry between China and the US” in the region, it continues to pursue a “careful balancing act by forging close ties with both sides”.

North Korea (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)

Governed by the Workers’ Party of Korea, the DPRK is considered a “hardline socialist state” and is “often cited as one of the most extreme examples of government control”, said HowStuffWorks.

Since its founding in 1948 under Kim Il Sung, the country has followed a centralised command economy with no legal private ownership. The state controls all aspects of life, from labour and production to information and education. After the Korean War, it enjoyed an economic boom that made it a model for socialist central planning, but since the 1990s the country has been crippled by sanctions.

Its state ideology, Juche, roughly translates as “self-reliance”. It is “an odd blend of several different ideas” that “borrows much of its language from Marxism but also draws on Confucianism, 20th-century Japanese imperialism, and traditional Korean nationalism”, said Vox. “Its core idea is that North Korea is a country that must remain separate and distinct from the world, dependent solely on its own strength and the guidance of a near-godlike leader.”

What about the Nordic countries?

A common misconception, often promoted by progressives – and Bernie Sanders – is that the best example of socialism in practice can be found in the Nordic countries. But while Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland “are often used internationally to prove that socialism works”, they have increasingly pivoted towards “free trade and free enterprise”, while retaining “higher taxes and more generous welfare systems than most parts of the world”, said Foreign Policy. “Property rights, business freedom, monetary freedom and trade freedom are strong in the Nordic nations.”

“Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy,” former Danish PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in 2015. “The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security for its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish.”