Which countries have socialist economies

The news site reports that for the first time in decades, farmers were allowed to sell the crops they grew, entrepreneurs were allowed to start businesses and foreigners were allowed to invest in China. The majority of Cubans are employed by the state, and receive government-subsidised food, healthcare and housing.

The southeast Asian nation of Laos was a French colony until , and communist forces eventually overthrew the monarchy in Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer. Home News World News. Given what we know of socialism and socialist countries, how can we tell which nations are socialist when these flagrantly break the rules? In a lot of contexts, they mean the same thing depending on who you talk to.

Now, even socialist countries DPRK and Cuba have accepted this to some extent through limited private enterprise. As for other socialist countries, well not so much so. When the dominant mode of production is market-based, the system is still filtering into capitalist logic. Markets function off of competition and production for profit rather than for use. Therefore purest would see them not as socialist countries.

This of course can be necessary for socialist countries at times, particularly to boost trade with other countries and get more materials. This however did not lead to a return of the capitalist class or an intended reduction in the socialist mode of production. Which of these are socialist countries? Is the PRC one of the socialist countries going by our metric?

China, as led by Mao Zedong unquestionably according to our metric counted among socialist governments and socialist countries for a very long period. This theory is variously regarded as a progressive development in accordance with Chinese material conditions or a perverse rightist deviation from Marxism-Leninism as an attempt to return to capitalism under the cloak of socialism… Socialists have a flair for the dramatic, you may find.

China emerged out of semi-feudalism to advance towards socialism, largely skipping an intermediate capitalist stage which is something Marx considered inadvisable. Under our model, we can see where this places China. They absolutely have a vanguard party, the structure of the CPC is largely unchanged from the early socialist days. Private property however is quite a major stumbling block. Much of the property in China is in private hands , as well as being owned by foreign companies and used for the purpose of commodity production.

As for the nature of production in China, profit is absolutely the goal. By this metric, China does not qualify as a socialist state in full. So again, whilst people like to call China a communist country usually in a disparaging light , the PRC does not claim to be communist yet. When China will finally be ready for communism evokes differing opinions among the Chinese! We have thrown these two socialist countries toegther because they fall under the same kind of banner really.

Collectivization was gradually disbanded and capitalists set up shop within their borders. Albeit with heavy state interference and the guiding hand of a vanguard party ever-present. Both countries maintain their vanguard parties. They are the sole leading parties of their respective socialist nations and they hold considerable sway. Meanwhile capitalist enterprise operates heavily within their borders and production for exchange is the dominant mode, under the ideal of developing productive forces.

This maintained the vanguard structure while still retaining economic reform. In most respects, the economic structures of these economies is more closely comparable to China. Laos has a lower industrial level but still allows heavy privatization and works with China in developing its economic model. Vietnam is much the same, with a stronger industrial core to back it up. Whether they return to socialism and continue Marxist-Leninist ideals is up for debate outside the scope of this blog post.

These are nations with socialist parties perhaps, but not states with existing socialism. A revisionist country still adheres to Marxist-Leninism in ways outside of the economy.

The understanding that socialism is a revolutionary movement and that socialist governments can only be formed by a revolutionary movement remains. Reformist countries are not like that. The trick is right there in the name, reformist! The belief that one can reform from a capitalist mode of production to a socialist one. Many question the legitimacy of such things, believing that while a vanguard party in China for instance could theoretically return to the socialist path, a reformist state cannot do such a thing.

By their very nature, the contradictions between a capitalist country and a socialist movement are too great to be resolved democratically, hence the often militant collapse of such reformist attempts. Still, some remain! And while they may lack socialism in practice, some argue that it remains in spirit. Which countries are socialist? Obviously we have given quite the in-depth answer to this question! These communist countries all mutually recognize each other, and have good relations at least from a party to party level.

The days of the Warsaw Pact are very much over. But what about other so-called socialist countries? Are there other socialist states in various forms? Where does Venezuela fit into the group of socialist countries? Is Venezuela communist as is often portrayed?

They are often the posterchild of socialist countries and their failure from the American camp, a way of showing alleged poverty it brings. Venezuela does not have a vanguard party, which should be made clear.

Even if this is true, it does not meet the criteria of a true vanguard party and has a legitimate opposition movement within the country. This is strike one. Property in Venezuela is quite a mixture. On the other hand, there is a massive amount of private property in Venezuela as well, with a wealthy capitalist class that controls a great deal of production and distribution.

Because of course, capitalists do not work without being paid, this is the simple law of M-C-M. This can lead to Venezuelan capitalists hoarding merchandise from government stores to sell on the black market instead, or simply refusing to deliver out of protest for low state-mandated prices. This contradiction fuels many of the issues in Venezuela. The debate on this matter is long and seemingly unending, though it does not change the fact that this is unquestionably strike two.

The PSUV has perhaps pushed for an alternative, but it fails to be the dominant system. Certain things have seen amazing successes, such as the public housing missions, but most consumer products exist as commodities produced under M-C-M and obtained under C-M-C.

This is strike three, ultimately disqualifying Venezuela from being a socialist country. Granted, Venezuela themselves have not called their country socialist. Venezuela often claims to be take inspiration from socialism or is on the path to socialism, but they use reformism rather than revolution.

Much as China has stepped back towards capitalism with intents of obtaining socialism, Venezuela sees it as necessary to transition away from capitalism rather than seizing the reins of power by force of arms.

Within the ranks of socialist governments Venezuela is not. Thankfully there are some good sources. Therefore one might argue that due to outside forces Venezuela has struggled to even achieve some form of socialism, let alone become a communist country. Nicaragua followed a rather similar trend to China, Vietnam and Laos but ultimately took a few steps further in reformism.

After the Sandinista movement took power in Nicaragua as a Marxist-Leninist party along the lines of Cuba, there was ultimately a desire to begin a gradual reform towards socialism rather than pursuing the immediate collectivization of other socialist governments. This soon transitioned into a move towards multi-party democracy, relinquishing vanguard status but still acquiring overwhelming control of the Nicaraguan government through democratic vote for a significant part of their post-revolution history, with some periods spent as opposition.

So how does Nicaragua fare in our earlier model? The reformist model saw great success in developing education, housing and healthcare as rights rather than commodities, but significant amounts of all three remain in for-profit private hands, while even more besides is developed entirely as part of commodity production.

That covers strikes two and three quite neatly. While the Sandinista movement may be heading towards socialism, there are arguments even against this, with riots in the streets of Nicaragua over Sandinista government attempts to increase taxes while decreasing benefits, a seemingly rather state-capitalist move. Unquestionably, Nicaragua is not in of itself a socialist country. Although during its one-party state phase it was undoubtedly a socialist state aiming to become a communist country.

The unique conditions of Nepal are naturally controversial in the Marxist sphere and constantly changing. There have been many schisms and mergers in the Nepali communist movement, attempting to find common ground between disappointment with their limited outcome and wishing to make the most of what they do have.

For our model of what makes a socialist country, despite having a Maoist party in power, arguably one of the most far-left communist ideologies there is, the Communist Party of Nepal is not a vanguard party, private property has not been relinquished and production has not shifted to being for use rather than for exchange.

Many Arab nations were unwilling to align themselves with the likes of the USSR, but they took some socialist influence. Hafez al-Assad is a very different man from his son Bashar al-Assad, the current at time of writing president. Actual socialist nations, revisionist ones and even reformist ones barely exist!

The collapse of the USSR caused most to collapse and even many reformist ones to officially discard their socialist affiliation. The political movements that wish to establish, by ballot or by bullet, a new socialist state.

Party leader Gennady Zyuganov getting a solid This is also with significant anti-Zyuganov media bias, significant financial aid from western countries for the Yeltsin campaign, foreign meddling and outright allegations of vote-rigging in favour of Boris Yeltsin, the ultimate victor. This certainly sounds like a candidate for a brand new Soviet Union somewhere down the line!

It has been pointed out that the CPRF were neither the first, nor necessarily the largest post-Soviet communist movement. What is rather unique is that they faced no opposition from the post-Yeltsin status quo and remained defiant public life.

This is something many rank-and-file party members vehemently reject. The question certainly begs an answer though. Again they do not claim that he USSR was ever a communist state. They reintroduced capitalism so suddenly and fiercely that living standards plummeted through the floor, while Belarus slammed the breaks and returned a certain degree of economic control in Lukashenko is not, however, part of the Communist Party of Belarus.

In fact, he is an independent. As is the vast majority of the parliament of Belarus! While only 11 of seats in the House of Representatives and 17 of 64 in the Council of the Republic, the Communist Party of Belarus is de facto the largest party in the entire country. They are, however, loyal to Lukashenko and have faced much of the same criticism as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for allegedly being a controlled opposition. Belarus is far from being a communist country.

With allegations of high-level misogyny and bigotry within its ranks, they limit their ability to reach higher ranks and form stronger relations with the international communist movement.

Should the party be able to move past these problems, they seem poised to become a force in African socialism. The EFF too have an English language website that may be worth checking out for more info. Founded in , the Communist Party of Greece has long been a force in the Greek political scene.

They rose to an incredible peak during the second world war when membership inflated to around , Alas, problems became clear when the war was finally over. When the British moved into Greece to assist in the removal of fascism, arms swiftly turned on the communists to prevent the creation of yet another socialist state encroaching into Europe.

Library of Congress. United States Institute of Peace. Council on Foreign Relations. UN News. Global News. Social Security. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance.

Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Key Takeaways Contrary to capitalism, socialist market economies produce goods based on usage values, with collective ownership shared by the entire country. In socialist economies, governments are charged with redistributing wealth and narrowing the gap between the poor and the rich.

While no modern-day countries are considered to have a "pure" socialist system, Cuba, China, and North Korea have strong elements of socialist market economies. Cuba's economy has also suffered greatly from U. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.

It ranks 63rd in global competitiveness. Despite this, socialist countries are yet to see the growth and innovation as seen in pure capitalist countries like the US, where companies like Amazon. Slovenia is another country in Eastern Europe.

It was a part of Yugoslavia and gained independence in after Yugoslavia dissolved in its constituent states. Slovenia has one of the lowest Gini Coefficient scores signifying one of the lowest inequality levels in the world. The state is also considerably involved in central planning and therefore, the market is significantly regulated. Slovenia has a moderate score in innovation at It has a high social progress score at Portugal is a country located in southern Europe famous for its seafood.

It is a democratic socialist country. Portugal is known for center-left economic policies regardless of whoever is in the government. The right wing is relatively unpopular in the country when compared to the left wing due to their alliance with the organized working class.

The socialist party has implemented several left leaning socialist policies over the course of 6 years including reduction in unemployment and increasing the amount of state owned welfare services for citizens. Portugal scores highly in social progress at Despite this, consumerism and new technologies made by companies like Amazon.

Spain is located in southwestern Europe and is a developed country. Spain is a democratic socialist state. Left wing politics is popular in the country. Spain has an innovation index score of MC , Banco Santander, S. Belgium is a country in western Europe.

It is a democratic socialist country with a very high level of development. It ranks at the 22 spot in Global Competitiveness, has a decent innovation index score of The market is free but the tax burden is relatively high due to government spending on healthcare and other welfare services.

Despite this, Europe lacks the level of tech innovation and progress seen in the US. Almost all major companies working on key technologies are in the US, including Amazon. It grabs the 8th ranking on our list of 15 socialist countries that have succeeded.

It is a democratic socialist country with an innovation score of 53, Global Competitiveness rank of 24 and a social progress score of The economy is mixed with a free market and huge government spending on welfare.

Netherlands is located in northwestern Europe. It has a significant amount of socialist frameworks in place. The economy is mixed and the market enjoys significant levels of freedom but there are regulations in place that are socialist in orientation.

For instance, young people get paid less than older people according to etuc. Policies have been enacted in the market for parents to take paid leaves in case of pregnancy or childbirth. Minimum wages have been set in the country to prevent people from falling into poverty. The Netherlands has a high innovation score of It ranks 4th in the global competitive index and has a high social progress score of AS , Exor N. AMS: AD. China undoubtedly grabs one of the best spots on the list of 15 socialist countries that have succeeded for a lot of reasons despite a relatively higher Gini Coefficient, lower innovation and social progress than some other countries on the list of 15 socialist countries that have succeeded.