Who is socialist country

A prominent historical example of a socialist country is the Soviet Union. Contemporary examples include Cuba, Venezuela, and China. Socialist ideals include production for use, rather than for profit ; an equitable distribution of wealth and material resources among all people; no more competitive buying and selling in the market; and free access to goods and services. Socialism developed in opposition to the excesses and abuses of liberal individualism and capitalism.

Under early capitalist economies during the late 18th and 19th centuries, western European countries experienced industrial production and compound economic growth at a rapid pace.

Some individuals and families rose to riches quickly, while others sank into poverty, creating income inequality and other social concerns. It was primarily Lenin who expounded on the ideas of earlier socialists and helped bring socialist planning to the national level after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Following the failure of socialist central planning in the Soviet Union and Maoist China during the 20th century, many modern socialists adjusted to a high regulatory and redistributive system sometimes referred to as market socialism or democratic socialism.

Capitalist economies also known as free-market or market economies and socialist economies differ by their logical underpinnings, stated or implied objectives, and structures of ownership and production.

Socialists and free-market economists tend to agree on fundamental economics—the supply and demand framework, for instance—while disagreeing about its proper adaptation. Several philosophical questions also lie at the heart of the debate between socialism and capitalism: What is the role of government? What constitutes a human right? What roles should equality and justice play in society?

Functionally, socialism and free-market capitalism can be divided on property rights and control of production. In a capitalist economy, private individuals and enterprises own the means of production and the right to profit from them; private property rights are taken very seriously and apply to nearly everything. In a socialist economy, the government owns and controls the means of production; personal property is sometimes allowed, but only in the form of consumer goods.

In a socialist economy, public officials control producers, consumers, savers, borrowers, and investors by taking over and regulating trade, the flow of capital, and other resources. In a free-market economy, trade is conducted on a voluntary, or nonregulated, basis. Market economies rely on the separate actions of self-determining individuals to determine production, distribution, and consumption.

Decisions about what, when, and how to produce are made privately and coordinated through a spontaneously developed price system and prices are determined by the laws of supply and demand. Proponents say that freely floating market prices direct resources towards their most efficient ends. Profits are encouraged and drive future production. Socialist economies rely on either the government or worker cooperatives to drive production and distribution.

Consumption is regulated, but it is still partially left up to individuals. The state determines how main resources are used and taxes wealth for redistributive efforts. There are many points of contention between these two systems. Socialists consider capitalism and the free market to be unfair and possibly unsustainable.

For example, most socialists contend that market capitalism is incapable of providing enough subsistence to the lower classes.

They contend that greedy owners suppress wages and seek to retain profits for themselves. Proponents of market capitalism counter that it is impossible for socialist economies to allocate scarce resources efficiently without real market prices. They claim that the resultant shortages, surpluses, and political corruption will lead to more poverty, not less. Overall, they say, that socialism is impractical and inefficient, suffering in particular from two major challenges. That is, socialist planners cannot incentivize laborers to accept dangerous or uncomfortable jobs without violating the equality of outcomes.

Socialists, wrote Mises, are unable to perform any real economic calculation without a pricing mechanism. Without accurate factor costs, no true accounting may take place. Without futures markets , capital can never reorganize efficiently over time.

While socialism and capitalism seem diametrically opposed, most capitalist economies today have some socialist aspects. Elements of a market economy and a socialist economy can be combined into a mixed economy. And in fact, most modern countries operate with a mixed economic system; government and private individuals both influence production and distribution. Economist and social theorist Hans Herman Hoppe wrote that there are only two archetypes in economic affairs—socialism and capitalism—and that every real system is a combination of these archetypes.

But because of the archetypes' differences, there is an inherent challenge in the philosophy of a mixed economy and it becomes a never-ending balancing act between predictable obedience to the state and the unpredictable consequences of individual behavior. Mixed economies are still relatively young and theories around them have only recently codified.

The Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith's pioneering economic treatise, argued that markets were spontaneous and that the state could not direct them, or the economy. Later economists including John-Baptiste Say, F. Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Joseph Schumpeter would expand on this idea. However, in , political economy theorists Wolfgang Streeck and Philippe C. Schmitter introduced the term "economic governance" to describe markets that are not spontaneous but have to be created and maintained by institutions.

The state, to pursue its objectives, needs to create a market that follows its rules. Historically, mixed economies have followed two types of trajectories. The first type assumes that private individuals have the right to own property, produce, and trade.

State intervention has developed gradually, usually in the name of protecting consumers, supporting industries crucial to the public good in fields like energy or communications , providing welfare, or other aspects of the social safety net.

This number has dropped dramatically in recent years. Countries that have constitutional references to socialism and are thus considered to be Socialist states include:. There are also multi-party states with governing Socialist parties.

Some territories have claimed to be socialist but are not recognized as independent states. In addition to socialist countries, there are democratic socialist countries. Democratic socialist countries have socialist economies where production and wealth are collectively owned. However, the government is democratic.

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