Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Main Difference

Several political philosophies exist within the system, and people follow the ones they agree with. But then some of them have classes within the original system, and therefore it gets important to explain them in detail for a better understanding. The two terms discussed in this article are Socialism and Democratic Socialism. First, one gets defined as a system in which the society itself gets the power to shape their future and manage everything in their lives. Later one gets described as a political ideology that shows democratic freedom along with the social ownership of the items produced.

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Socialism and Democratic Socialism

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Socialism gets defined as a system in which the society itself gets the power to shape their future and manage everything in their lives, but the government keeps the power. Democratic socialism gets defined as a political ideology that shows democratic freedom along with the social ownership of the items produced.

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Socialist want to give control to the government so that equal opportunities get provided to everyone instead of the companies. Democratic socialists believe that a balance between government and enterprises mean the power remains with people.

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Socialism as a concept gained prominence late in the 18th century and has existed for a long time whereas democratic socialism is a new term that is gaining popularity day by day.

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Socialism as a concept concentrates on making equality the basis for people to earn their living and living lives whereas democratic socialism concentrates more on balance between the powers that control the lives of individuals.

Socialism vs. Democratic Socialism

Socialist people believe that the worker has the right to control the production and the people have right to control the prices whereas Democratic Socialists believe that the government has the right to control the prices and the companies have the right to make the production.

Socialismnoun

Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.

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Socialismnoun

A system of social and economic equality in which there is no private property.

Socialismnoun

A system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.

Socialismnoun

(Marxism) The intermediate phase of social development between capitalism and full communism in Marxist theory in which the state has control of the means of production.

Socialismnoun

Any of a group of later political philosophies such democratic socialism and social democracy which do not envisage the need for full state ownership of the means of production nor transition to full communism, and which are typically based on principles of community decision making, social equality and the avoidance of economic and social exclusion, with economic policy giving first preference to community goals over individual ones.

Socialismnoun

Any left-wing ideology, government regulations, or policies promoting a welfare state, nationalisation, etc.

Socialismnoun

a political theory advocating state ownership of industry

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Socialismnoun

an economic system based on state ownership of capital

Comparison Chart

Socialism Democratic Socialism
A system in which the society itself gets the but the government keeps the power. A political ideology that shows democratic freedom along with the social ownership of the items produced.
Argument
Give control to the government so that equal opportunities get provided to everyone. A balance between government and enterprises mean the power remains with people.
Prominence
Late in the 18th century Currently.
Concentration
Concentrates on making equality the basis for people to earn their living and living lives. Concentrates more on balance between the powers that control the lives of individuals.
Control
With people. Shared between government and companies.

Socialism

Socialism is a broader term and gets defined as a system in which the society itself gets the power to shape their future and manage everything in their lives. Although some of the responsibilities fall on the government which has to make sure that everyone gets decent chances for living a life suitable to their status. All the necessities such as education, health should become provided by the authorities and personal matters such as marriage, living, freedom fall in the hands of people themselves. The financial market gets controlled according to the requirements of the population of the area, and the government gets to take critical decisions instead of private companies. It is more practiced in the European countries where democracy exists, and the power lies with the people. It also discourages the division in class based on the economy. The drawback is that standard of living for people cannot change quickly. Socialists people believe that there should be parity among the people, and the administration should make sure that everyone gets an equal share of opportunities. It is a place where individuals who are rich have to pay more tax while persons who are poor pay less tax and get more benefits. For socialism, the amount of the product that gets provided depends on the government and particular establishments who take into consideration different factors and surveys. Socialism helps in creating more job opportunities for people, and hence they spend a life according to own management.

Democratic Socialism

Democratic Socialism is a term that gets defined as a political ideology that shows democratic freedom along with the social ownership of the items produced. The main focus here is that democratic management of the enterprises takes place within a system that follows the socialist economic model. People who support this ideology believe that neither the government gets to control the lives of individuals nor the people running big companies get to decide how much someone has to pay for a particular item. They have a firm belief that people who get affected by the decisions are the ones who keep the right of making such actions. Many corporate organizations do not have anyone to answer to and therefore are free to continue controlling the people for their benefits. Similarly, the government sometimes make decisions based on personal gains and does not take into account people living in a particular location. Many philosophers relate it to the socialist model, but it is very different where the economy is considered support for the political system and both become dependent on each other so that one entity does not have the upper hand on the other and hence, benefiting people. They argue that in the short term, no company gets eliminated and hold power, but over a longer period some policies get introduced that regulate them, and the government has some say in their actions. At the same time, one thing remains certain, it is still against the capitalist and capitalism and differs completely.