More Democrats view socialism favorably compared to capitalism for the first time in almost a decade, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday.
But the survey’s finding that a healthy majority of Democrats have a positive image of socialism doesn’t reflect a recent groundswell of support for 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders or 2018 New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both identify as democratic socialists. Instead the research demonstrates a drastic shift in how Democrats perceive capitalism.
The poll found only 47 percent of Democrats see capitalism in a positive light, down nine percentage points since 2016. Meanwhile, attitudes toward socialism are up only slightly from 2010.
“It’s possible that the drop in Democrats’ positive views of capitalism is related to Donald Trump’s presidency,” Gallup wrote in a press release. “Trump is an enthusiastic capitalist, and his administration’s efforts to roll back regulations on business and industry, as well as the tax cut law that is advantageous to businesses and corporations, may have caused Democrats to view the entire capitalist enterprise with less positive eyes.”
Gallup conducted the poll among 1,505 adults between July 30 and Aug. 5 via the telephone. The survey’s results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
