socialist state
Publicly owned economy
A socialist state is a country governed according to socialist principles, typically featuring public or collective ownership of major industries and centralized economic planning.
The term ranges from self-descriptions by communist governments the Soviet Union called itself a socialist state to characterizations by critics of any country with substantial state intervention in the economy.
What qualifies varies wildly depending on who's talking.
Government directs all production
- planned economyCentralized resource allocation system
- nationalizationGovernment acquisition of industry
- single-partySole faction governing
- central committeeExecutive governing body
party secretary · soviet · workers' council · bureaucracy · mass mobilization · five-year plan · command economy · ministry
Class-based revolutionary philosophy
- LeninismVanguard-led revolutionary doctrine
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
- StalinismTotalitarian Communist doctrine
- TrotskyismRevolutionary socialist theory opposing bureaucracy
Marxism-Leninism · communism · syndicalism · collectivism · egalitarianism · anti-capitalism · class struggle · proletariat
Soviet founding coup
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- Cultural RevolutionMaoist mass political campaign
- Great Leap ForwardFailed rapid industrialization campaign
- Red ArmySoviet ground forces
Cheka · KGB · Pravda · Kremlin · Eastern Bloc · Iron Curtain · Berlin Wall · Cuban Revolution
Unity among allies
- equalitySame status for all
- common ownershipShared control of assets
- collective responsibilityShared blame among members
- public goodsShared, non-excludable resources
shared resources · communal · cooperative · comrade · fraternity · mutual aid · classless society · workers' rights
Sharing out again differently
- universal healthcareGuaranteed medical access nationwide
- public housingSubsidized homes for poor
- land reformRedistributing agricultural holdings
- progressive taxationRates increase with income
subsidies · pensions · unemployment benefits · basic income · public services · free education · price controls · rationing
central planning
Government directs all production
- planned economyCentralized resource allocation system
- nationalizationGovernment acquisition of industry
- single-partySole faction governing
central committee · party secretary · soviet · workers' council · bureaucracy · mass mobilization · five-year plan · command economy · ministry · apparatchik
Marxism
Class-based revolutionary philosophy
- LeninismVanguard-led revolutionary doctrine
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
- StalinismTotalitarian Communist doctrine
Trotskyism · Marxism-Leninism · communism · syndicalism · collectivism · egalitarianism · anti-capitalism · class struggle · proletariat · bourgeoisie
October Revolution
Soviet founding coup
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- Cultural RevolutionMaoist mass political campaign
- Great Leap ForwardFailed rapid industrialization campaign
Red Army · Cheka · KGB · Pravda · Kremlin · Eastern Bloc · Iron Curtain · Berlin Wall · Cuban Revolution · Sandinistas
solidarity
Unity among allies
- equalitySame status for all
- common ownershipShared control of assets
- collective responsibilityShared blame among members
public goods · shared resources · communal · cooperative · comrade · fraternity · mutual aid · classless society · workers' rights · internationalism
redistribution
Sharing out again differently
- universal healthcareGuaranteed medical access nationwide
- public housingSubsidized homes for poor
- land reformRedistributing agricultural holdings
progressive taxation · subsidies · pensions · unemployment benefits · basic income · public services · free education · price controls · rationing · collectivization
- communismMarx, Marxism, Leninism, Lenin, proletariat
- socialismMarxism, communism, proletariat, bourgeoisie, communal ownership
- North KoreaPyongyang, Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong-il
- political entitiesnation, country, kingdom, republic, dominion
- Cold War EscapeBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, Checkpoint Charlie, escape attempts, defection
- East GermanyStasi, GDR, DDR, Berlin Wall, East Germany
state, social, socialism, states, stately, socialist, interstate, statecraft, statewide