A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a
sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of
socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically about
communist states that refer to themselves as
socialist states. It includes information on
liberal democratic states with
constitutional references to socialism as well as other state formations that have referred to themselves as socialist.
Overview
Constitutional references to socialism
A number of countries make references to socialism in their constitutions that are not single-party states embracing Marxism–Leninism and planned economies. In most cases, these are constitutional references to the building of a socialist society and political principles that have little to no bearing on the structure and guidance of these country's
machinery of government and
economic system. The preamble to the 1976
Constitution of Portugal states that the Portuguese state has, as one of its goals, opening "the way to socialist society". Another broad example is that of Slovenia, which defines itself as a "state governed by the rule of law and a social state". Algeria, the Congo, India, and Sri Lanka have directly used the term ''socialist'' in their official constitution and name. Croatia, Hungary, and Poland directly denounce "Communism" in their founding documents in reference to their past regimes.
In these cases, the intended meaning of ''socialism'' can vary widely and sometimes the constitutional references to socialism are left over from a previous period in the country's history. In the case of many Middle Eastern states, the term ''socialism'' was often used in reference to an
Arab socialist/
nationalist philosophy adopted by specific regimes, such as that of
Gamal Abdel Nasser and that of the various
Ba'ath parties. Examples of countries directly using the term ''socialist'' in their names include the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, while a number of countries make references to socialism in their constitutions, but not in their names. These include India and Portugal. In addition, countries such as Belarus, Colombia, France, Russia, and Spain use the varied term ''social state'', leaving a more ambiguous meaning. In the constitutions of Croatia, Hungary, and Poland, direct condemnation is made to the respective past socialist regimes. The
autonomous region of
Rojava, which operates under the principles of
democratic confederalism, has been described as a socialist state.
Other uses
During the
post-war consensus,
nationalization of large industries was relatively widespread and it was not uncommon for commentators to describe some European countries as democratic socialist states seeking to move their countries toward a
socialist economy.
[Barrett, William, ed. (1 April 1978)]
"Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: A Symposium"
''Commentary''. Retrieved 14 June 2020. "If we were to extend the definition of socialism to include Labor Britain or socialist Sweden, there would be no difficulty in refuting the connection between capitalism and democracy."[Heilbroner, Robert L. (Winter 1991)]
"From Sweden to Socialism: A Small Symposium on Big Questions"
''Dissident''. Barkan, Joanne; Brand, Horst; Cohen, Mitchell; Coser, Lewis; Denitch, Bogdan; Fehèr, Ferenc; Heller, Agnès; Horvat, Branko; Tyler, Gus. pp. 96–110. Retrieved 17 April 2020.[Kendall, Diana (2011). ''Sociology in Our Time: The Essentials''. Cengage Learning. pp. 125–127. . "Sweden, Great Britain, and France have mixed economies, sometimes referred to as democratic socialism—an economic and political system that combines private ownership of some of the means of production, governmental distribution of some essential goods and services, and free elections. For example, government ownership in Sweden is limited primarily to railroads, mineral resources, a public bank, and liquor and tobacco operations."][Li, He (2015). ''Political Thought and China's Transformation: Ideas Shaping Reform in Post-Mao China''. Springer. pp. 60–69. . "The scholars in camp of democratic socialism believe that China should draw on the Sweden experience, which is suitable not only for the West but also for China. In the post-Mao China, the Chinese intellectuals are confronted with a variety of models. The liberals favor the American model and share the view that the Soviet model has become archaic and should be totally abandoned. Meanwhile, democratic socialism in Sweden provided an alternative model. Its sustained economic development and extensive welfare programs fascinated many. Numerous scholars within the democratic socialist camp argue that China should model itself politically and economically on Sweden, which is viewed as more genuinely socialist than China. There is a growing consensus among them that in the Nordic countries the welfare state has been extraordinarily successful in eliminating poverty."] In 1956, leading
British Labour Party politician and author
Anthony Crosland claimed that capitalism had been abolished in Britain, although others such as Welshman
Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health in the first
post-war Labour government and the architect of the
National Health Service, disputed the claim that Britain was a socialist state. For Crosland and others who supported his views, Britain was a socialist state. According to Bevan, Britain had a socialist
National Health Service which stood in opposition to the
hedonism of Britain's capitalist society, making the following point:
Although, as in the rest of Europe, the
laws of capitalism still operated fully and
private enterprise
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...
dominated the economy,
some political commentators claimed that during the post-war period, when socialist parties were in power, countries such as Britain and France were democratic socialist states and the same is now applied to the
Nordic countries and the
Nordic model.
In the 1980s, the government of President
François Mitterrand aimed to expand
dirigisme and attempted to nationalize all French banks, but this attempt faced opposition of the
European Economic Community because it demanded a
free-market capitalist economy among its members. Nevertheless,
public ownership in France and the United Kingdom during the height of nationalization in the 1960s and 1970s never accounted for more than 15–20% of
capital formation, further dropping to 8% in the 1980s and below 5% in the 1990s after the rise of
neoliberalism.
The socialist policies practiced by parties such as the Singaporean
People's Action Party (PAP) during its first few decades in power were of a pragmatic kind as characterized by its rejection of nationalization. Despite this, the PAP still claimed to be a
socialist party, pointing out its regulation of the private sector, state intervention in the economy, and social policies as evidence of this. The Singaporean prime minister
Lee Kuan Yew also stated that he has been influenced by the democratic socialist British Labour Party.
Communist states
Communist states categorised themselves as
socialist state after having reached a specific point of social development. But a communist state had myriads of self-designations. Terms used by communist states include ''
national democratic'', ''
people's democratic'', ''
people's republican'', ''
socialist-oriented,'' and ''workers' and peasants states.
A
people's republic is a type of communist state with a republican constitution. Although the term initially became associated with
populist movements in the 19th century such as the German
Völkisch movement and the
Narodniks in Russia, it is now associated with Communist Party ruled states. A number of the short-lived communist states which formed during
World War I and
its aftermath called themselves ''people's republics''. Many of these sprang up in the territory of the former
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
following the
October Revolution. Additional people's republics emerged following the
Allied victory in World War II, mainly within the
Eastern Bloc. In Asia, China became a people's republic following the
Chinese Communist Revolution and North Korea also became a people's republic. During the 1960s,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
and
Yugoslavia ceased to use the term ''people's republic'' in their official name, replacing it with the term ''socialist republic'' as a mark of their ongoing political development.
Czechoslovakia also added the term ''socialist republic'' into its name during this period. It had become a people's republic in 1948, but the country had not used that term in its official name.
Albania used both terms in its official name from 1976 to 1991.
See also
*
Legislatures in communist states
*
Soviet democracy
*
Soviet (council)
*
Soviet republic
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist State
Dictatorship of the proletariat
Republicanism
Socialism
Types of countries