Socialism is more popular than capitalism among Democrats

(Image credit: Scott Heins/Getty Images)

published 13 August 2018

Democrats have an increasingly negative view of capitalism. A Gallup poll published Monday found that more Democrats see socialism positively than capitalism, while Republicans largely prefer capitalism.

Gallup has been polling views on the two economic systems since 2010, and this year marks the first time that Democrats prefer socialism by a wide margin. While 57 percent of Democrats said they had a positive view of socialism, fairly consistent with the numbers of previous years, only 47 percent said they had a positive view of capitalism, a significant drop from 2016 when 56 percent viewed it positively.

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While a majority of Democrats have viewed socialism positively for several years, 2018 is the first time that positive view surpassed the popularity of capitalism. Gallup notes that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have brought socialism into the mainstream, while President Trump's enthusiastically capitalist leanings may be pushing Democrats leftward. See more poll results at Gallup.

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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