Can it be said socialism and democracy are the same thing ?

Question

The people through voting are supposed to have the power to controll government choices .

I am impressed ! Some actual thoughtful answers . Thank you . The definitions vary . The point is a very curious viewpoint . If one notes the text book answers do not allways apply . You need a bit of common sense .

Answer 1

In some instances they can be the same, if a majority of the people choose to structure their society according to the principles of socialism.

Of course, democracy can also exist without socialism, if the majority choose to accept private property and a market system.

Or, socialism can exist without democracy, if the ruling power decides to organize the economy by the principles of socialism. The Soviet Union would be an example of this.

Answer 2

No.

Socialism is an economic and political governing structure in the same meaning as the following governing structures:

Socialism (Some European nations)
Republic (USA)
Direct Democracy (nowhere that I know)
Dictatorship (Zimbabwe)
Fascism (Italy under Mussolini)
Communism (Cuba, China) although Capitalism is changing the face of Communism in China.

...etc, etc....

Any of these can be affected and impacted by economic policy, corruption, regional culture, etc. For example, Cuba is communist, but also run by a defacto dictator. China is Communist but is run by the Communist party and to an increasing degree, the businesses that are driving its economy.

Monarchy does not fit the list because it is only a governing structure, but doe not describe the political or economic structure within that monarchy.

Answer 3

No they are not the same. Socialism is what Hillary Clinton promotes, the taking from the hard working people and giving it to the non working people.

Democracy in a general sense means the people put the people who govern them into office and then have some say so over the country.. As opposed to a Dictatorship where one person controls everything.
Like Castro in Cuba.
And don't forget. The U.S. is not a Democracy. it is a representative republic. There is a slight difference.

Answer 4

I feel that these guys are complicating the issue. Its simple infact.

Socialism is equality to all the people of various classes of society. A state is said to be Socialist if its government strives to bring equality or minimise the gap between the rich and the poor of the society.

Democracy is the form of government where the people elect their leaders. They choose who has to run the government.
As said by Abraham Lincoln, Democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people !

Any country where the government is formed by people's representatives is Democracy, but it can be called socialist only if it strives to reduce the gap between various classes of people in the society. thats it. Hope I made it a bit clear and simple :-)

Answer 5

NO!!!Democracy - Government by the people, in which the supreme power is vested in the people, exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
Socialism - a theory or system of social organization
that adovates the vesting of the ownership and control
of the means of production & distribution of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Answer 6

The essence of capitalism is innovation ("creative destruction") in particular sectors. Certain standard tools of economics, such as static equilibrium and macroeconomic analysis, can therefore disguise reality and mislead scholars and students.

The virtues of capitalism--in particular its steady but gradual pattern of growth--are long-run and hard to see; its defects, such as inequality and apparent monopoly, are short-run and conspicuously visible.
. It is dangerous for economists to prescribe "general" recipes, because political and social circumstances are always changing.
Capitalism all but destroyed most of the secular underpinnings of civilized society--the manor, village, and craft guild. Yet it replaced these institutions with nothing: no idealism, no sense of organic life, no essential ability for social organization of a non-economic nature.
In particular, the talents necessary for economic success don't translate well into other realms of life. "A genius in the business office may be, and often is, utterly unable outside of it to say boo to a goose--both in the drawing room and on the platform."

So, without protection from some other source, "the bourgeoisie is politically helpless and unable not only to lead its nation but even to take care of its particular class interest."

Because capitalist evolution, and particularly the rise of big business, attacks masses of small producers and merchants, it alienates its natural allies, indirectly giving reinforcements to the enemy.

The substitution of a share of stock for tangible goods "takes the life out of the idea of property." If this process goes on long enough and thoroughly enough, "there will be nobody left who really cares to stand for [property]."

Capitalism works gradual changes within the psyches of individuals. By reducing everything to an economic calculus, it "rationalizes" thinking. It "creates a critical frame of mind which, after having destroyed the moral authority of so many other institutions, in the end turns against its own.The philosophical case for capitalism is beyond the intellectual capacity of most persons, even most economists. "Why, practically every nonsense that has ever been said about capitalism has been championed by some professed economist."

Most important, the case for capitalism "must rest on long-run considerations." In the short run, it is impossible for most people, even intellectuals, to ignore exasperating "profits and inefficiencies" and focus instead on long-range trends.

Answer 7

No doubt Socialism is Economic System, but economy is a social science, without socialism, democracy is incomplete.
The best example is India, world's largest democratic country,
which is socialist & secular republic country.

Answer 8

Socialism is an economic policy. It's unrelated to democracy.
The fact that there are no socialist democracies should tell you this.
(Before you say it France is not a socialist country, it's a capitalist country with poor labour and tax laws)

Answer 9

In socialism the government owns everything and doles it out. We are a Republic; so I know little about democracies.

Answer 10

socialist claim it is democracy. communists claim it is a step towards communism and true freedom for the workers.