Democratic Socialism

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"For socialism, as a fully democratic society based on the common ownership of the means of production, demands, in order to function, the voluntary cooperation of the immense majority of the population. It is a society which simply cannot be established by a minority, however enlightened, determined or benevolent. Leaders, whether reformist parliamentarians or insurrectionist vanguards, cannot establish socialism; all they can and have established is some form of state capitalism”

Democratic Socialism (DemSoc), not to be confused with Social Democracy, is a left-wing ideology inhabiting around the top center of the libertarian left quadrant. It is one of the more moderate socialists.

Democratic Socialism seeks to combine pluralist, typically representative Democracy and socialism, viewing dominant socialist currents (e.g. Marxism-Leninism) as undemocratic or authoritarian due to their advocacy for a one-party state and what they see as dictatorship (and usually as not truly socialist, due to this).
This is done typically by means of advocating for transition to socialism by Reformist and electoralist means, using Liberal democracy to acheive a socialist society, rather than using revolutionary, or otherwise violent or non-reformist means. Despite the former, sometimes dubbed "Evolutionary Democratic Socialism", or just "Evolutionary Socialism", being by far the most popular Democratic Socialist current, there also exists a form of Democratic Socialism that does support (violent) revolution. Revolutionary Democratic Socialism does not view electoralism as a legitimate or practical way of achieving socialism, but rather supports a revolution to establish a socialist society with pluralist democratic governance. However, it generally advocates for what they see as a revolution of "the masses" and not a smaller group such as a vanguard party. Centrist Democratic Socialism takes a position between reformist and revolutionary views combining elements from both to reach a democratic socialist society.

History

Canada

The more Left-Wing factions in the NDP can be compared to Democratic Socialism.

Keffals is a retired youtuber who became famous after her tweets went viral on Twitter but she became famous after she went into drama with Kiwi Farms. In October 2024 she announced that she would retire from streaming.

Czechoslovakia

Socialism with a Human Face (SwHF) was a term coined by liberal socialist Radovan Richta to describe the beliefs of Alexander Dubček and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia under his rule. It sought to bring about moderate democratic reforms, which put it at odds with the ideologies of the other Eastern Bloc countries. It sought to transition Czechoslovakia into a multiparty, democratic socialist state, and guarantee citizens the freedom of speech, press and movement. Socialism with a Human Face also had a distinct foreign policy, which was to seek good relations with both the Eastern Bloc, and western nations.

Socialism with a Human Face believed that highly authoritative and centralized policies were no longer needed in Czechoslovakia, as the bourgeois class had already been defeated and done away with. It also sought to modernize Czechoslovakia, and have it join the rest of the world in terms of scientific and technological advancements. Moreover, SwHF believed that the proletariat must not only be liberated from the exploitation of the bourgeoisie, but also that socialism "must make more provisions for a fuller life of the personality than any bourgeois democracy."

In response to Dubček's reforms, the Soviet Union and supporting members of the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia. This caused a rift in Communist movements around the world, and the legacy of the invasion led to the actualization of Eurocommunism.

United Kingdom

The UK Labour Party was first formed on the 27th of February 1900 by the Labour Representation Committee (a pressure group that focused on workers' rights) and was initially socialist and the abolition of private property was included in the party's platform but by the 1940s, in accordance with many other socialist political parties in Europe, the abolishment of private property was dropped from their party platform and they swiftly won elections after this. Clement Atlee was elected prime minister in 1945, just three years later his party created the NHS and oversaw mass nationalizations and the formation of a comprehensive welfare state.

United States

Socialist Party of America

Democratic Socialism first emerged in the US with Eugene Debs. Debs was a socialist from Indiana and ran for president a total of five times. He first came into national attention when he organised a strike against a big railroad company that had cut its employees' pay. It would become known as Debs' Rebellion. Grover Cleveland intervened and sent in the army to break the strike killing 14 and sending Debs to prison. Debs would then go on to create the Socialist Party of America and denounce protective tariffs as causing wage cuts and being tools of the elite. Debs would then go to prison again under Woodrow Wilson due to his strong opposition to US entry into WW1 and urged resistance to the draft. Wilson called him a traitor and charged him with sedition. President Harding commuted his sentence but he did not grant a pardon; Eugene Debs would then die in prison.

The Socialist Party would continue to operate long after Debs' death, though would never come close to winning even a single state in nationwide elections. They did however manage to entrench themselves in the city of Milwaukee, controlling the mayorship of the place for decades. They were often called Sewer Socialists because of their tendency to brag about Milwaukee's excellent sewer system which they had created.

The party would ultimately collapse in the 1970s due to internal fighting between ideological factions. The more moderate ones would go on to form the Social Democrats USA while the more left-wing members formed other groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America.

Bernie Sanders and the DSA

Democratic socialism saw a resurgence in the 21st century due to the candidacy of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries as well as the subsequent rise of the Democratic Socialists of America. By 2020, a number of DSA members were elected to Congress, including AOC and Rashida Tlaib. The DSA peaked at roughly 90,000 members in 2021 before declining to around ~70,000 in 2024.

Russia

At the beginning of the 20th century in Russia, two parties stood on the positions of democratic socialism: the Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

During the years of Soviet power, democratic socialism was popular among the opposition.In his “Draft Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia”, Academician A. D. Sakharov reflected the principles of a state with broad democratic rights and a mixed planned market economy, in which entrepreneurs are financially responsible for the social consequences of their activities.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and tried (and failed) to reform the Soviet Union.

Today, many provisions of democratic socialism have broad support in Russia. According to the All-Russian Poll of VCIOM in February 2006, 46.7% of the population spoke in favor of recreating a strong and socially oriented, but at the same time democratic, state. However, this ideology is almost not associated with the existing socialist or social democratic parties, which were supported by only 4% of the respondents.

Chile

As a result of the elections in Chile in 1970, the Popular Unity party, led by Salvador Allende, came to power. Economic reforms were carried out, as a result of which the US share in the Chilean economy decreased, and workers' self-government was also introduced.

However, in 1973 this government was overthrown by a military junta led by Augusto Pinochet.

India

Early INC/Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian statesman, political and public figure. Under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, he became Chairman of the Indian National Congress, and later, after the country gained independence on August 15, 1947, the first Prime Minister of India. He remained in this post until May 27, 1964, when he died of a heart attack.

According to Bhikhu Parekh, Nehru can be regarded as the founder of the modern Indian state. Parekh attributes this to the national philosophy Nehru formulated for India. For him, modernisation was the national philosophy, with seven goals: national unity, parliamentary democracy, Industrialism, socialism, development of the scientific temper, and Non-Alignedism. In Parekh's opinion, the philosophy and the policies that resulted from this benefited a large section of society such as public sector workers, industrial houses, and middle and upper peasantry. However, it failed to benefit the urban and rural poor, the unemployed and the Hindu fundamentalists.


Nehru is credited with having prevented civil wars in India. Nehru convincingly succeeded in Secularism and religious harmony, increasing the representation of minorities in government.

Economic policies

Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialisation and advocated a mixed economy where the government-controlled public sector would co-exist with the private sector. He believed the establishment of basic and heavy industry was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy. The government, therefore, directed investment primarily into key public sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies. Nehru's vision of an egalitarian society was "a co-operative ideal, a one world ideal, based on social justice and economic equality". In 1928, Nehru had affirmed that "Our economic programme must aim at the removal of all economic inequalities". Later in 1955, he declared that "I also want a classess society in India and the world." He identified his concept of economic freedom with the country's economic development and material advancement.


The policy of non-alignment during the Cold War meant that Nehru received financial and technical support from both power blocs in building India's industrial base from scratch. Steel mill complexes were built at Bokaro and Rourkela with assistance from the Soviet Union and West Germany. There was substantial industrial development. The industry grew 7.0% annually between 1950 and 1965—almost trebling industrial output and making India the world's seventh-largest industrial country. Nehru's critics, however, contended that India's import substitution industrialisation, which continued long after the Nehru era, weakened the international competitiveness of its manufacturing industries. India's share of world trade fell from 1.4% in 1951–1960 to 0.5% between 1981 and 1990. However, India's export performance is argued to have shown actual sustained improvement over the period. The volume of exports grew at an annual rate of 2.9% in 1951–1960 to 7.6% in 1971–1980.

GDP and GNP grew 3.9 and 4.0% annually between 1950 and 1951 and 1964–1965. It was a radical break from the British colonial period, but the growth rates were considered anaemic at best compared to other industrial powers in Europe and East Asia. India lagged behind the miracle economies (Japan, West Germany, France, and Italy). However, this mixed development strategy allowed native industrialisation to gain ground. While India's economy grew faster than both the United Kingdom and the United States, low initial income and rapid population increase meant that growth was inadequate for any sort of catch-up with rich income nations.India saw significant improvements in health, literacy and life expectancy since its independence.

Agriculture policies

In domestic politics, Nehru was an active supporter of Georgism, while recognizing private initiative as the main functional engine of harmonious economic and social development.

Under Nehru's leadership, the government attempted to develop India quickly by embarking on agrarian reform and rapid industrialisation. A successful land reform was introduced that abolished giant landholdings, but efforts to redistribute land by placing limits on landownership failed. Attempts to introduce large-scale cooperative farming were frustrated by landowning rural elites, who formed the core of the powerful right-wing of the Congress and had considerable political support in opposing Nehru's efforts. Agricultural production expanded until the early 1960s, as additional land was brought under cultivation and some irrigation projects began to have an effect. The establishment of agricultural universities, modelled after land-grant colleges in the United States, contributed to the development of the economy. These universities worked with high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, initially developed in Mexico and the Philippines, that in the 1960s began the Green Revolution, an effort to diversify and increase crop production. At the same time, a series of failed monsoons would cause serious food shortages, despite the steady progress and an increase in agricultural production.

Social policies
Education

Nehru was a passionate advocate of education for India's children and youth, believing it essential for India's future progress. His government oversaw the establishment of many institutions of higher learning, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and the National Institutes of Technology. Nehru also outlined a commitment in his five-year plans to guarantee free and compulsory primary education to all of India's children. For this purpose, Nehru oversaw the creation of mass village enrolment programs and the construction of thousands of schools. Nehru also launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children to fight malnutrition. Adult education centres and vocational and technical schools were also organised for adults, especially in the rural areas.

Hindu code bills and marriage laws

Under Nehru, the Indian Parliament enacted many changes to Hindu law through the Hindu code bills to criminalise caste discrimination and increase the legal rights and social freedoms of women.The Nehru administration saw such codification as necessary to unify the Hindu community, which ideally would be a first step towards unifying the nation.They succeeded in passing four Hindu code bills in 1955–56: the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act.Those who practise Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism are categorised as Hindus under the jurisdiction of the Code Bill.


Nehru specifically wrote Article 44 of the Indian constitution under the Directive Principles of State Policy which states: "The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." The article has formed the basis of secularism in India.However, Nehru has been criticised for the inconsistent application of the law. Most notably, he allowed Muslims to keep their personal law in matters relating to marriage and inheritance. In the small state of Goa, a civil code based on the old Portuguese Family Laws was allowed to continue, and Nehru prohibited Muslim personal law. This resulted from the annexation of Goa in 1961 by India, when Nehru promised the people that their laws would be left intact. This has led to accusations of selective secularism.


While Nehru exempted Muslim law from legislation and they remained unreformed, he passed the Special Marriage Act in 1954.The idea behind this act was to give everyone in India the ability to marry outside the personal law under a civil marriage. In many respects, the act was almost identical to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, demonstrating how secularised the law regarding Hindus had become. The Special Marriage Act allowed Muslims to marry under it and keep the protections, generally beneficial to Muslim women, that could not be found in the personal law. Under the act, polygamy was illegal, and inheritance and succession would be governed by the Indian Succession Act, rather than the respective Muslim personal law. Divorce would be governed by secular law, and maintenance of a divorced wife would be along the lines set down in civil law.

Language policy

The Constituent assembly debated the question of national language between 1946 and 1949. Within the assembly there were two blocs, pro-Hindi and anti-Hindi. The pro-Hindi bloc was further divided between supporters of Hindustani led by Nehru, and supporters of Modern Standard Hindi based on Sanskrit. The anti-Hindi bloc was generally in favour of promoting English to an official status.Nehru stated that "We must have our own language...but English must continue to be a most important language in India which large numbers of people learn and learn perhaps compulsorily".[206] After an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was adopted as the official rather than national language of India in 1950, with English continuing as an associate official language for 15 years, after which Hindi would become the sole official language. The Hindi-Hindustani debate was resolved through a compromise that the official language would be called Hindi, with a directive clause that while Sanskrit would be the primary source of vocabulary, the traditional Hindustani vocabulary would also be supported.[203][204] Claims of other Indian languages were upheld through the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.


Efforts by the Indian government to make Hindi the sole official language after 1965 were unacceptable to many non-Hindi Indian states, which wanted the continued use of English. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a descendant of Dravidar Kazhagam, led the opposition to Hindi.To allay their fears, Nehru enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963 to ensure the continuing use of English beyond 1965. The text of the Act did not satisfy the DMK and increased their scepticism that future administrations might not honour his assurances. The Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi eventually amended the Official Languages Act in 1967 to guarantee the indefinite use of Hindi and English as official languages. This effectively ensured the current "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic.

Foreign Policy

Nehru took a neutral position in foreign policy, implying India's independence from both the Western and Eastern blocs. In view of this, he, along with Gamal Abdel Nasser and Josip Broz Tito, took part in the tripartite consultations that preceded the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement, which unites countries with economies that differ significantly from capitalism and soviet central planning. However, he later admitted that the neutral position towards communism, which pursued an aggressive expansionist policy, was ineffective. China's attack on India forced it to move closer to the NATO countries and abandon its neutrality.

The Commonwealth

After independence, Nehru wanted to maintain good relations with Britain and other British Commonwealth countries. As prime minister of the Dominion of India, he acquiesced only after Krishna Menon's redrafting of the 1949 London Declaration, under which India agreed to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations after becoming a republic in January 1950, and to recognise the British monarch as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth".[209][210] The other nations of the Commonwealth recognised India's continuing membership of the association.

Non-aligned movement

On the international scene, Nehru was an opponent of military action and military alliances. He was a strong supporter of the United Nations, except when it tried to resolve the Kashmir question. He pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of nations professing neutrality between the rival blocs of nations led by the US and the USSR.The term "non-alignment" was coined earlier by V. K. Krishna Menon at the United Nations in 1953 and 1954.India recognised the People's Republic of China soon after its founding (while most of the Western bloc continued relations with Taiwan). Nehru argued for its inclusion in the United Nations and refused to brand the Chinese as the aggressors in the west's conflict with Korea. He sought to establish warm and friendly relations with China in 1950 and hoped to act as an intermediary to bridge the gulf and tensions between the communist states and the Western bloc.

Nehru was a key organiser of the Bandung Conference of April 1955, which brought 29 newly independent nations together from Asia and Africa, and was designed to galvanise the nonalignment movement under Nehru's leadership. He envisioned it as his key leadership opportunity on the world stage, where he would bring together emerging nations. He was one of the key participants of the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961 in Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia.

Defence and nuclear policy

While averse to war, Nehru led the campaigns against Pakistan in Kashmir. He used military force to annex Hyderabad in 1948 and Goa in 1961. While laying the foundation stone of the National Defence Academy in 1949, he stated:

We, who for generations had talked about and attempted in everything a peaceful way and practised non-violence, should now be, in a sense, glorifying our army, navy and air force. It means a lot. Though it is odd, yet it simply reflects the oddness of life. Though life is logical, we have to face all contingencies, and unless we are prepared to face them, we will go under. There was no greater prince of peace and apostle of non-violence than Mahatma Gandhi...but yet, he said it was better to take the sword than to surrender, fail or run away. We cannot live carefree assuming that we are safe. Human nature is such. We cannot take the risks and risk our hard-won freedom. We have to be prepared with all modern defence methods and a well-equipped army, navy, and air force."


Nehru entrusted Homi J. Bhabha, a nuclear physicist, with complete authority over all nuclear-related affairs and programs and answerable only to the prime minister.


Many hailed Nehru for working to defuse global tensions and the threat of nuclear weapons after the Korean War (1950–1953). He commissioned the first study of the effects of nuclear explosions on human health and campaigned ceaselessly for the abolition of what he called "these frightful engines of destruction". He also had pragmatic reasons for promoting de-nuclearization, fearing a nuclear arms race would lead to over-militarisation that would be unaffordable for developing countries such as his own.

Defending Kashmir

At Lord Mountbatten's urging, in 1948, Nehru had promised to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir under the auspices of the UN. Kashmir was a disputed territory between India and Pakistan, the two have gone to war over it in 1947. However, as Pakistan failed to pull back troops in accordance with the UN resolution, and as Nehru grew increasingly wary of the UN, he declined to hold a plebiscite in 1953. His policies on Kashmir and the integration of the state into India were frequently defended before the United Nations by his aide, V. K. Krishna Menon, who earned a reputation in India for his passionate speeches.


In 1953, Nehru orchestrated the ouster and arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, the prime minister of Kashmir, whom he had previously supported but was now suspected of harbouring separatist ambitions; Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad replaced him.


Menon was instructed to deliver an unprecedented eight-hour speech defending India's stand on Kashmir in 1957; to date, the speech is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council, covering five hours of the 762nd meeting on 23 January, and two hours and forty-eight minutes on the 24th, reportedly concluding with Menon's collapse on the Security Council floor. During the filibuster, Nehru moved swiftly and successfully to consolidate Indian power in Kashmir (then under great unrest). Menon's passionate defence of Indian sovereignty in Kashmir enlarged his base of support in India and led to the Indian press temporarily dubbing him the "Hero of Kashmir". Nehru was then at the peak of his popularity in India; the only (minor) criticism came from the far right.


China

In 1954, Nehru signed with China the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, known in India as the Panchsheel (from the Sanskrit words, panch: five, sheel: virtues), a set of principles to govern relations between the two states. Their first formal codification in treaty form was in an agreement between China and India in 1954, which recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. They were enunciated in the preamble to the "Agreement (with the exchange of notes) on Trade and Intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India", which was signed at Peking on 29 April 1954. Negotiations took place in Delhi from December 1953 to April 1954 between the Delegation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Government and the Delegation of the Indian Government on the relations between the two countries regarding the disputed territories of Aksai Chin and South Tibet. By 1957, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai had also persuaded Nehru to accept the Chinese position on Tibet, thus depriving Tibet of a possible ally, and of the possibility of receiving military aid from India. The treaty was disregarded in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, the Five Principles again came to be seen as important in China–India relations, and more generally as norms of relations between states. They became widely recognised and accepted throughout the region during the premiership of Indira Gandhi and the three-year rule of the Janata Party (1977–1980). Although the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were the basis of the 1954 Sino-Indian border treaty, in later years, Nehru's foreign policy suffered from increasing Chinese assertiveness over border disputes and his decision to grant asylum to the 14th Dalai Lama.

United States

In 1956, Nehru criticised the joint invasion of the Suez Canal by the British, French, and Israelis. His role, both as Indian prime minister and a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, was significant; he tried to be even-handed between the two sides while vigorously denouncing Anthony Eden and co-sponsors of the invasion. Nehru had a powerful ally in the US President Dwight Eisenhower who, if relatively silent publicly, went to the extent of using America's clout at the International Monetary Fund to make Britain and France back down. During the Suez crisis, Nehru's right-hand man, Menon attempted to persuade a recalcitrant Gamal Nasser to compromise with the West and was instrumental in moving Western powers towards an awareness that Nasser might prove willing to compromise.

Samajwadi Party

Akhilesh Yadav is an Indian politician and National President of the Samajwadi Party.

China

Mao criticised Democratic Socialism as early as in 1921. Throughout the history of CPC, DemSoc has been officially criticised. However, as the liberlefts in China never formed a real political party, there has always been some Democratic Socialism sympathisers (like Xie Tao) within the CPC, especially when Dengism produced an ideological chaos in China.

Chen Duxiu Thought

Chen Duxiu Thought is an ideology based on the ideas of Chen Duxiu, the first general secretary and the main founder of the Chinese Communist Party. He believed that China should not follow the ideas of Stalin, but should follow the path of Trotskyism and Democratic Socialism.

However, in 1927, he left the post of General Secretary of the CCP, and founded his own faction in 1929. In 1932 he was arrested by the Nationalist government. Though there had been a time when Chen was considered the leader of Chinese Trotskists, it turned out that his ideas were much different from the Trots', which left him hardly any supporters when he died in 1942.

Xie Tao and the arguments around Democratic Socialism (2007-2008)

In 2007, Democratic Socialism writer Xie Tao (谢韬,1921-2010)'s article Democratic Socialism and the Future of Workers led to a strong debate in China. Xie claimed that "the Swedish Model of Democratic Socialism is orthodox Marxism", and later further claimed that "only Democratic Socialism can save China" and called for political reform.

At that time, this article caused a strong debate in China, and even influenced CPC's 17th National Congress. Supporters believe that the high welfare social system mentioned in the article is progressiveness and referential. Opponents believe that the author did not have a deep understanding of the thoughts of Marx, Engels and Bernstein. In January 2008, Hu Jintao, Chinese presednt at that time, ended the debate by stating that "The Reform and Opening up Policy does not mean abolishing socialism".[7]

Sweden

Main Article: Eco-Socialism

Albania

Lëvizja Bashkë or Organizata Politike, a democratic socialist organization in Albania, was founded during the 2011 Albanian opposition demonstrations. They opposed both Democratic Party of Albania and Socialist Party of Albania.

In addition to having close views on some issues with Marxism-Leninism, Lëvizja Bashkë criticized the authoritarian policies of Stalinism and defended direct democracy against the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Lëvizja Bashkë's views are based on ideologies such as social democracy, democratic socialism, progressivism and left-wing populism. They carry out activities like solidarity with proletarians and making ideological publications.

Hungary

Imre Nagy was a Hungarian Politician who was the leader of Hungary from 1953-1956.

Poland

Left Together (Lewica Razem) is a Polish political party that was founded in 2015 and ran in the parliamentary elections in the same year. Before the elections, the party's founder, Adrian Zandberg, appeared in an election debate on TVP (polish tv) and was announced the winner. The party criticized the left-wing parties SLD and Spring. in the elections, the party gained over 3% support, thanks to which it obtained money from the state budget, but it did not enter parliament. in the European Parliament elections, Razem joined DiEM15 (from which it left in 2022), but it did not manage to cross the electoral threshold. In 2019, Together ran for parliament together with SLD and Wiosna. 7 parliamentarians of the party got into the Sejm. in 2023, Zandberg's party also ran with SLD and Wiosna, and 9 of the party's parliamentarians got elected.

Razem views are left-wing, democratic and pro-European. The party believes in ecological and feminist values. Together opposes Russia's aggression against Ukraine and opposes Israel's genocide in Gaza. Party is pro-union, progressive

Beliefs and Views

Democratic socialism is a left-wing democratic and usually reformist ideology. Its fundamental principles are nearly the same as those of Social Democracy - freedom, justice, and solidarity.

Economics

Advocates of democratic socialism in the UK usually call for the mass nationalizations of industries, while British Social Democrats simply want the commanding heights or essential public services to be controlled by the state, British Democratic socialists want the entire economy to be controlled by the state which can incur large costs and ultimately caused one of the first big divides of the Labour Party between those who wanted to save money by only nationalizing essential services and those who wanted to establish a socialist state. However in the modern day several Democratic Socialists have come up with new versions of democratic socialism such as fiscal localism, where local communities are put first with tariffs and subsidizes given to keep full employment and avoid the deindustrialization that destroyed unions' political power across the west.

Another form of democratic socialism is with the implementation of Market Socialism where the state implements plans such as Employee funds which would've seen unions control every company in Sweden approximately 20 years after implementation.

Variants

Authoritarian Democratic Socialism

Authoritarian Democratic Socialism (also known as Illiberal Democratic Socialism) is a variant of democratic socialism that believes in implementing such a system through an illiberal democratic government. The democracy itself usually comes from cooperatives managed by the state. An example of this would be Tito’s Yugoslavia. Alternatively, this variant could be interpreted as an authoritarian socialist regime’s way of gradually giving more democracy back to the workers in a kind of democratic transition. An example of this would be the USSR under Gorbachev.

Democratic Eco-Socialism

WIP

Personality

Democratic socialism has an extremely varied personality. In its reformist variety, demsoc usually behaves like a softer version of Socialism or like a harder version of Social Democracy. This variant also doesn't like being confused with socdem. Alternatively, democratic socialism can demonstrate a revolutionary or authoritarian attitude towards getting its system implemented. These two variants will insist they are pro-democracy but in a way opposed to the modern sense of liberal democracy.

How to Draw

Star style

Flag of Democratic Socialism (Star design)

Drawing Democratic Socialism in this design takes a few steps:

  1. Draw a ball
  2. Fill it with red
  3. Draw a white circle in the center
  4. Draw a smaller blue circle inside the white circle.
  5. Draw a white star over the circle, being careful to leave the points of the star outside of the white circle but the indentations well inside the blue one so this one is still visible
  6. Draw a smaller red star inside the white star
  7. Add the eyes and you're done!
Color NameHEXRGB
 Red#D60F18rgb(214, 15, 24)
 White#FFFFFFrgb(255, 255, 255)
 Blue#1E3F7Argb(30, 63, 122)
Flag of Democratic Socialism (DSA design)

USA style

Drawing Democratic Socialism in the DSA design also takes a few steps:

  1. Draw a ball
  2. Fill it with red
  3. Draw a white hand outline coming from the left
  4. Draw a black hand outline coming from the right, that holds onto the white hand
  5. Draw a white rose with 2 white leaves
  6. Draw the eyes and you're done!
Color NameHEXRGB
 Red#FF1D10rgb(255, 29, 16)
 White#FFFFFFrgb(255, 255, 255)
 Black#211C1Crgb(33, 28, 28)


Relations

Friends

  • Civic Nationalism - I love my Democratic Socialist Republic.
  • Labour Zionism - My favourite party in Israel, a shame you all sold-out to him. You could still be fairer with the Palestinians though?

Frenemies

  • Syndicalism - Unions good, but please allow me to nationalize a bunch of stuff. I’ll try not to make it state capitalism.
  • Agrarian Socialism - Farmers matter but Kerensky was pretty authoritarian towards the end.
  • Eco-Socialism - Earth matters but some of you simp for undemocratic regimes.
  • Classical Social Democracy - My brother who is way too revolutionary-vanguardist but didn't deserve to be murdered so young.
  • Titoism - Authoritarian tankie, but still much better than the others.
  • Georgism - Capitalist, but he has a good policy on land..
  • Social Georgism - A good improvement, but still capitalist.
  • Conservative Socialism - I like your economic takes, but not your social takes.
  • Liberal Socialism - My brother. We may seem very similar on the surface, but worker-owned means of production doesn’t seem to be a goal of yours. Some of my varieties still like your methods, however.
  • Social Democracy - My other brother who accepts capitalism. Also, we're not the same! ( These variants are pretty based though)
  • Eurocommunism - Despite being generally similar I don't like the EU for being too neoliberal and also we used to compete for votes in Italy.
  • Reformism - Reforms are great, but a revolution can also be a good thing.
  • Tridemism - Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People are based but you went down the drain quickly by Chiang Kai-shek's oppressive right-wing dictatorship and Maoist totalitarian communist tyranny, now I don't know what you are anymore.
  • Bull Moose Progressivism - Mostly too imperialist, but Sinclair was an early American proponent of my system.
  • Social Libertarianism - I like your decentralization but when are you going to let the workers seize the means of production?
  • Chavismo - A little too authoritarian but I still oppose any actions against you since that would be neocon imperialism. America should lift the sanctions on Venezuela even though Maduro is kinda cringe and much worse than his predecessor Chavez. (+ you hate Guyana which is a Demsoc country)
  • Castroism and Guevarism - Even less democratic than the above, but hey, Castro once was me, and the Cuban Revolution made things better after Batista's dictatorship.
  • Social Liberalism - We have different goals but we often have to work together in coalition governments.
  • Trotskyism - You were part of us in the past, Then you betrayed us by joining him, But Chen Duxiu is based.
  • Arab Socialism - Mostly too close to him but Ben Bella is based. And good job fighting for a free Palestine, even if you had your own flaws and being less popular than those fundamentalists .
  • Ba'athism - As much as I despise both Saddam and Assad (the latter isn't even a socialist), the Iraq War and foreign intervention in the Syrian civil war made things much worse and led to the rise of ISIS.
  • Gaddafism - Same as above.
  • Ho Chi Minh Thought - The US had no place in the Vietnam War but Vietnam is a repressive and now authoritarian capitalist-communist one-party dictatorship like China.
  • Nation Alliance - We sometimes work together to oppose him and I might support your presidential candidate against Erdogan's dictatorship and his Islamofascist allies, but why do you also think that I am a PKK supporter?
  • European Federalism - Most of my followers are sceptical of you, but some of my followers support you.
  • Pacifists - (Sigh) Look...... I prefer peace too, but if you won't even fight fascists or other tyrants then you are de facto helping them, this should be elementary level common sense.
  • Social Capitalism - You gotta admit, democratic capitalism is basically me without using the term “socialism”.

Enemies

  • Napoleon III - If it was not for your coup he might have turned France into the first Democratic Socialist country.
  • Leninism - You destroyed The SRs, Mensheviks, and Kerensky and ruined the good name of Socialism everywhere.
  • De Leonism and Impossibilism - STOP BULLYING ME FOR BEING REFORMIST!
  • National Bolshevism - You're like ConSoc but worse.
  • Neoconservatism - Stop overthrowing me and setting up bourgeois dictators. Why does my brother feel the need to occasionally work with you?
  • American Democracy - Not a democracy but what is a two-party oligarchic dictatorship where you vote for pawns of the bourgeoisie.
  • Corporatocracy - Corporations are bad enough, and now you want them to rule!
  • Anarcho-Capitalism - Aren't you that scum again?
  • Zionism - It makes me feel ashamed the DSA used to support Israel knowing what you done to the Palestinians, Free Palestine!
  • Jihadism - Got rekt in Raqqa lmao. At least you fight against Zionism.
  • Pinochetism - I'll never forgive you for what you did to Allende!
  • Marxism–Leninism - Stop giving him a terrible name! Please ignore the fact that a lot of your parties became democratic socialist and many people call them communist.
  • Khrushchevism - WHY THE F*CK YOU HAD TO CRUSH THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION?! GET YOUR TANKS AWAY FROM ME!!
  • Maoism - I don’t care that you later split with the man above. I’ll never forgive you for supporting the invasion of Hungary. But we can work together against Dengism.
  • Brezhnev Doctrine - Soviet imperialist, Prague Spring never forget!
  • Dengism - Filthy monopolist (especially Tze-min) and authoritarian. Xi and Quanguo are even worse, being nazbols. Tankies still defend you for some reason I can't comprehend.
  • Pol Potism - Disgusting dictator who genocided a large portion of his population. You ruined the name of socialism for many, and worse yet, you then had the audacity to ruin my name as well!?
  • Miloševićism - Another chauvinist, genocidal scum who uses my name for his atrocities. But Chomsky likes you for some reason.
  • Batistaism - You are not me in the slightest! Also, you couped one of my followers.
  • Monarcho-Capitalism - Bruh.
  • Imperialism - One of the biggest evils in human history.
  • Nazism & Fascism - Fascist scum. I'll just ignore that Gentile said that fascism is the best way to achieve both socialism and democracy
  • Totalitarianism and Ingsoc - Orwell didn't write 1984 to demonstrate the evils of Totalitarianism without reason.
  • Korwinism - Yes, I support socialism AND democracy. Got a problem with that?
  • Hoppeanism - WHY?
  • Third Way - Fucking Blairites, I'll never forgive you for sabotaging Corbyn and ousting him from his own party!
  • Democratism - DAMN CORPOCRATS!
  • Objectivism - What the hell is this pseudo-intellectual garbage?
  • Thatcherism - Neolibtard c*nt who ruined everything Attlee did to Britain. Ding dong, the witch is dead.
  • Hindutva - Hindu nazcap who is continuing the loot of India.
  • Fiscal Conservatism - Austerity has done a number on the workers of the world, and it is beyond time to move past this travesty to establish a new kind of economy.
  • Neoliberalism - Literally capitalism without the mask! Also even if he is sometimes willing to work with you, I cannot do the same in good faith.
  • Alt-Right Libertarianism - Bruh, you are literally a fascist that smokes weed.
  • Serranoism - If only I knew who I shook hands with...

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  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_National_Solidarity_Party
  2. https://reformandrevolution.org/2021/09/08/whos-who-in-dsa-a-guide-to-dsa-caucuses/
  3. https://reformandrevolution.org/2021/09/08/whos-who-in-dsa-a-guide-to-dsa-caucuses/
  4. The group was formed by past members of the Socialist Party, actors, judges, and many leftist Catholics who did not become full members of the Communist Party because it was seen as an atheist organization.
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1_zQ1iTLs
  6. https://quotefancy.com/quote/1341913/Jawaharlal-Nehru-I-have-long-believed-that-the-only-way-peace-can-be-achieved-is-through
  7. This may seem weird to many, as DemSoc is undoutedly classified to "socialism". But the fact is that The Party Central Committee has the power to define what socialism is. Presently, ideologies different from Marxism-Lennism, Maoism and Dengism are not regarded as "socialism" in China. Hu was actually meaning that the CPC would take no interest in Democratic Socialism and continue practicing Dengism.