Socialism hits record favorability though most US adults still reject it

More than 40% of Americans hold a positive view of socialism, marking a seven-percentage-point rise and the highest rating for the theory since 2010, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Support for socialism has risen primarily among Democrats, jumping from 50% to 66% between 2010 and 2025, but within the past year, independents’ approval of socialism spiked to 45% from 37% last year. Republicans’ support for socialism remains below 15%, according to the poll. 

In response to the findings, George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley quoted Karl Marx in a post on X to criticize the trend.

“The return of socialism is like the reappearance of low-rise jeans,” he said. “You are left mystified by anyone who believes that this is a worthy theory to emulate after consistent and catastrophic failures. Perhaps Marx was right after all: ‘History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.’”

The findings come as socialist candidates run in the upcoming midterm elections, including Democratic Socialists of America members Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York, Melat Kiros in Colorado, Janeese Lewis George in Washington, D.C., and incumbent Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan.

The poll, conducted Aug. 3-24, examined Americans’ views on five economic concepts: big business, capitalism, free enterprise, small business and socialism. Since 2010, Americans’ support for big business has fallen by 14 percentage points, and their approval of free enterprise and capitalism has dropped by nine and six points, respectively. 

Small business won the greatest support, with 95% of Americans saying they view it positively. Free enterprise ranked second, winning 77% of Americans’ approval. Only 35% of Americans hold a positive view of big business, and 55% view capitalism positively.

Americans often associate “wealth inequality” with capitalism rather than free enterprise, according to another Gallup poll. Nearly 25% of Americans say capitalism produces “excessive inequality” and “benefits the wealthy at the expense of others,” while only 9% say the same about free enterprise, Gallup reports.

Along similar lines, Americans who favor socialism emphasize the fairness and security it claims to deliver while dismissing the high amount of government control and intervention necessary to maintain it.

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Democratic Socialists of America)