A voters guide to democratic socialism: It isn’t what most people think

Democratic socialism is on the front burner of U.S politics today. But the heated debates usually involve false understandings of what it is and what it isn’t.

Here are the true facts.

• Democratic socialism in U.S. politics today is largely the same as contemporary progressive liberalism.
• A majority of Americans would buy the core principles of socialism if branded under a different name. (Why not call it democratic progressivism?)
• Democratic socialists, me included, are not at war with capitalism, but seek to curb its excesses and the indecent inequalities it breeds.

What are the principles of socialism?

It’s not revolutionary overthrow.

Long-time political expert E.J. Dionne Jr. has written, there is “broad agreement among Democrats on … more progressive taxation; universal access to affordable health insurance, child care and housing; enhanced worker rights; climate action; and … voting rights.”

These policies fit snugly within the democratic socialism of Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez/Zohran Mamdani that is spreading like political wildfire. It’s, in fact, mainstream left-of-center Democratic politics. And it’s right up the alley of the Democratic majority in the Maryland General Assembly.

Hardly utopian. Hardly a crusade to destroy democracy and free enterprise.

Democratic socialism policies have roots in the progressivism of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, FDR’s “new deal,” LBJ’s “Great Society” and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s crusade for economic, as well as racial, justice. There have even been mayors, known as “sewer socialists,” who “cleaned unhygienic water, built libraries and parks, fortified funding for public schooling.”

True, some democratic socialists, often under the banner of the Democratic Socialist party, demand extreme policies like defunding the police, removing all immigration controls, and ending capitalism. But these demands are outside the democratic socialism proposed by Bernie/AOC/Mamdani and others. All political movements have unwelcome extremists in their ranks.

Why are a growing majority of U.S. voters drawn to democratic socialism?

According to a 2025 survey by the conservative Cato Institute, 59% of voters had a favorable view of capitalism, 43% to socialism. Less than half of Americans say capitalism is working very well, down from 60% a decade ago.

Most important, 62% of 18- to 29-year-olds have a favorable view of socialism. And roughly two-thirds of Democrats rate socialism positively.

Helping to fuel this surge is deep yearning for generational changes in leadership.

Why is socialism equated with communism? The false equivalency is promoted, mainly by conservatives, to discredit democratic socialism.

Its progressive liberalism is a far cry from the end of capitalism and private property espoused by communists. Yet, right-wingers ignore this. Trump called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic.” Other conservatives have identified democratic socialism as a plot to destroy the American way of life.

In fairness, however, even a group of moderate House Democrats felt compelled, by the false equivalency, to declare, “We are capitalist, not socialist.” But, as noted above, Democrats generally support the democratic socialism policies advocated by Bernie/AOC/Mamdani and others.

Take, for example, Medicare for all, tuition-free college, universal child care, progressive taxation and other liberal policies. Voter approval for them increases significantly across the political spectrum when the policies are not labeled as socialist.

So, let’s rename the democratic socialist principles of Bernie/AOC/Mamdani: Let’s call them democratic progressivism.

Does democratic socialism/progressivism have legs?

Democratic socialism confronts Democrats with a damned-if-you-do, damned-if- you-don’t political bind. Particularly among swing voters, identification with democratic socialism is likely to be a loser.

On the other hand, democratic socialism has evolved because of its advocacy of ideas considered too liberal when first proposed.

When Norman Thomas died in 1968, the New York Times called him “the nation’s conscience for social justice and social reform.” Thomas was the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate in six consecutive elections between 1928 and 1948. He opposed communism and fought for strong unions, racial equality, social welfare safety nets for workers and the poor, and environmental protection. He was trounced in elections but almost all his “far out” beliefs eventually wound up in mainstream liberalism today.

So the fear of near-time election losses must be balanced against the chance to keep the tide of Bernie/AOC/Mamdani rolling. Fox News, of all people, recently reported: “Meet the far-left insurgents waging war in 2026 mid-terms.” You’ll find them far beyond New York City — in Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Texas and Ohio.

No, a democratic socialist millennium is not coming. But better days for everyday Americans are — if learn the true meaning of democratic socialism.