Gallup poll: Democrats favoring socialism over capitalism

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- For the first time in a decade, Democrats have a more positive image of socialism than they do of capitalism, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

While their view of socialism has not changed materially, Democrats' view of capitalism fell substantially from a 2016 poll, when 56 percent indicated a positive view of capitalism, to 47 percent in 2018. Republicans maintain a more confident view of capitalism, with 71 percent offering positive views and 16 percent having a positive view of socialism. Those figures have changed little since 2010.

The change in the Democrats' trend is significant because some observers contend that the Democratic Party is turning more socialist in its views, Gallup said.

Gallup cites 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and new congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the party's most prominent socialists. It mentions, though, that several candidates with socialist leanings lost Democratic primaries in August, suggesting that Democrats' embrace of socialism is not a deep one.

Irrespective of parties, survey respondents age 19 to 49 are most receptive to socialism over capitalism. In the cohort of those 50 and over, twice as many respondents have a favorable view of capitalism compared to those with a favorable view of socialism.

Results for poll were based on telephone interviews conducted July 30 to Aug. 5, with a random sample of 1,505 adults, age 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus-or-minus 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.