Gallup has been measuring Americans’ opinions of various economic systems or aspects of the economy since 2010. Surveys are conducted over landlines or cellphones with at least 1000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Interviews are conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. The latest survey was conducted in August of this year.

In these surveys, respondents are asked, “Just off the top of your head, would you say you have a positive or negative image of each of the following?” Their views are then solicited on capitalism, free enterprise, socialism, big business and small business.

Each post in this series will focus on a subset of the 2025 survey responses. I’ll start with a comparing positive responses to capitalism and socialism. Here’s a summary of those responses, by self-reported party identity:

Definitions of capitalism and socialism:

Capitalism is an economic system in which:

  • a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. Google Dictionary

  • the creation of wealth and the ownership of capital, production, and distribution by individuals. Investopedia 

Capitalism is founded on the following pillars: private property… self-interest… competition… a market mechanism… freedom to choose with respect to consumption, production and investment…[and] limited role of government. International Monetary Fund   

Socialism is any of various egalitarian economic and political theories or movements advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. Merriam-Webster Dictionary 

Democratic socialism is a political ideology that supports the establishment of a democratically run and decentralized form of socialist economy. Modern democratic socialists vary widely in their views of how a proper socialist economy should function, but all share the goal of abolishing capitalism rather than improving it through state regulation. Some democratic socialists believe that markets have a place in a socialist economy, so long as the competing businesses are publicly, cooperatively, or otherwise socially owned. Britannica Encyclopaedia

A Few Comments:

Conservatives often call progressives ‘socialists” - an accusation often met with contempt by the progressives I know. “Are they idiots? Insisting on the right to housing, healthcare, racial justice etc. doesn’t make me a ‘socialist’!!!” Or words to that effect.

Per this year’s Gallup survey, most Dems appear to get the warm-and-fuzzies about socialism; it’s not just the far-left. What’s that about? Do they really want to abolish capitalism and replace it with collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution?

I wish Gallup would do followup questions in these surveys, asking questions like “what comes to mind when you think of socialism? … What does socialism mean to you?…” Ditto the same questions about capitalism.