Several past and present states have declared themselves socialist states or in the process of building socialism. The majority of self-declared socialist countries have been Marxist–Leninist or inspired by it, following the model of the Soviet Union or some form of people's or national democracy. They share a common definition of socialism, and they refer to themselves as socialist states on the road to communism with a leading vanguard party structure, hence they are often called communist states. Meanwhile, the countries in the non-Marxist–Leninist category represent a wide variety of different interpretations of the term socialism, and in many cases the countries do not define what they mean by it. Modern uses of the term socialism are wide in meaning and interpretation.
Because a sovereign state is a different entity from the political party that governs that state at any given time, a country may be ruled by a socialist party without the country itself claiming to be socialist or the socialist party being written into the constitution. This has occurred in both one-party and multi-party political systems. In particular, there are numerous cases of social democratic and democratic socialist parties winning elections in liberal democratic states and ruling for a number of terms until a different party wins the elections. While socialist parties have won many elections around the world and most elections in the Nordic countries, none of those countries have adopted socialism as a state ideology or written the party into the constitution.
Several countries with liberal democratic constitutions mention socialism. India is a democracy that has been governed by non-socialist parties on many occasions, but its constitution makes references to socialism. Certain other countries, such as Hungary,[1]Myanmar,[2] and Poland[3] have constitutions that make references to their communist and socialist past by recognizing or condemning it, but without claiming to be socialist in the present.
Overview
Self-identification is the only criterion used by the list, therefore it includes all countries that have claimed to be socialist, even if their claims are disputed. All countries that have not claimed to be socialist are excluded, even in cases where certain outside observers regarded those countries as socialist. Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China considered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to be a proto-communist state, although the kingdom never declared itself socialist, hence it is not included on this list.[4] The list includes countries that assert in their constitutions that they are based on socialism, regardless of their economic or political system. It does not list countries that do not have constitutional references to socialism as socialist states, even in cases where the government is currently run by a socialist party or other left-wing (centre-left and far-left) parties. Inversely, countries that do maintain constitutional references to socialism are listed, even when those countries are governed by non-socialist parties. The list is best understood as a list of countries that explicitly claim to be socialist, and it does not reflect the actual economic systems themselves.
A combined map of all countries that declared themselves socialist states under any definition at some point in their history, color-coded for the number of years they said they were socialist:
Note: North Korea has no longer followed Marxism–Leninism since its constitution was amended in 1992,[8] but its ruling party has still asserted its commitment to communism.[9]
Preamble (1963): "Faithful to the program adopted by the National Council of the Algerian Revolution in Tripoli, the democratic and popular Algerian Republic will direct its activities toward the construction of the country in accordance with the principles of socialism [...]".[10]
Preamble (1996–2016): "Gathered in the national movement and later within the National Front of Liberation, the Algerian people have made great sacrifices in order to assume their collective destiny in the framework of recovered freedom and cultural identity and to build authentic people's democratic constitutional institutions. The National Front of Liberation crowned the sacrifices of the best sons of Algeria during the people's war of liberation with independence and built a modern and full sovereign State".[11]
Preamble: "Further pledging that it shall be a fundamental aim of the State to realise through the democratic process, a socialist society free from exploitation, a society in which the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedoms, equality and justice, political, economic and social, will be secured for all citizens".[13]
Preamble: "The Popular National Assembly congratulates the PAIGC for the vanguard role it has always performed in conducting the fates of the Guinea nation, and congratulates itself for the courageous and timely decision that the Party of Amilcar Cabral took by overcoming the challenge of democratic opening, towards the construction of a plural, just and free society. The decision of the PAIGC follows in accordance with its historic tradition of acting at every moment as the repository for the deepest aspirations of our people."[15]
Section 1, Article 1: "Guyana is an indivisible, secular, democratic sovereign state in the course of transition from capitalism to socialism and shall be known as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana".[16]
Preamble (since 1976): "We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens".[17][18]
Chapter 1, Article 1: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an independent socialist State representing the interests of all the Korean people."[19]
Preamble: "The Constituent Assembly affirms the Portuguese people's decision to defend national independence, guarantee citizens' fundamental rights, establish the basic principles of democracy, ensure the primacy of a democratic state based on the rule of law and open up a path towards a socialist society, with respect for the will of the Portuguese people and with a view to the construction of a country that is freer, more just and more fraternal."[23]
Section 1, Article 5: "Liberty, justice, respect for the dignity of the human person, political and social pluralism, the recognition of the distinct identity of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent within the framework of a unitary and indivisible state, the recognition of different forms of property, free international cooperation and respect for the free self-determination of peoples, Christian values, socialist ideals, and practices based on solidarity, and the values and ideals of the Nicaraguan culture and identity, are the principles of the Nicaraguan nation. [...] The socialist ideals promote the common good over individual egoism, seeking to create an ever more inclusive, just and fair society, promoting an economic democracy which redistributes national wealth and eliminates exploitation among human beings".[25][26]
Preamble: "[...] to constitute Sri Lanka into a democratic socialist republic whilst ratifying the immutable republican principles of representative democracy, and assuring to all peoples freedom, equality, justice, fundamental human rights and the independence of the judiciary".[27]
These are territories that have claimed autonomy and declared themselves as socialist under some interpretation of the term. While these regions have created stable institutions of governance that have existed for a considerable period of time, they are not widely recognized as autonomous by the international community and officially are parts of other sovereign states under international law.
Commonly called Rojava, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria's governance is inspired by democratic confederalism.[31] Its autonomy began with the Rojava Revolution in 2012.
Preamble: "In the present stage, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, as the initiator and coordinator of the policy of National Reconciliation, actively carries forward together with other political, national and democratic forces".[32]
Section 1, Article 1: "The People's Socialist Republic of Albania is a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which expresses and defends the interests of all the working people".[34]
Section 1, Article 2: "All sovereignty is vested in the Angolan people. The MPLA, their legitimate representative constituted from a broad front including all patriotic forces engaged in the anti-imperialist struggle, is responsible for the political, economic, and social leadership of the nation".[35]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic is a socialist state expressing the will and interests of the workers, peasants and intelligentsia, the working people of all nationalities of the republic".[37]
Section 1, Article 1: "The People's Republic of Bulgaria is a socialist state of the working people from town and village, headed by the working class".[39]
Presidential oath: "I swear allegiance to the Congolese people, to the Revolution and to the Congolese Labor Party. I shall undertake, while guided by Marxist-Leninist principles, [...] to devote all my strength to the triumph of the proletarian ideals".[44]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is a socialist state founded on the firm alliance of the workers, farmers and intelligentsia, with the working class as its head".[45]
Country declared Marxist–Leninist in 1974, with the Workers' Party of Ethiopia becoming "the formulator of the country's development process and the leading force of the state and in society" in 1987.[46]
Section 1, Article 1: "The German Democratic Republic is a socialist state of workers and peasants. It is the political organization of the working people of town and country under the leadership of the working class and its Marxist-Leninist party".[47]
People's Law Number Two: "The People's Revolutionary Government, PRG, is hereby established as of Tuesday 13 March 1979, in accordance with the sovereign will of the Grenadian people, and in it shall be vested of executive and legislative power".[48]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an independent socialist state representing the interests of all the Korean people".[51]
A non-Marxist–Leninist socialist state since 1992.[nb 15]
Preamble: "The Malagasy people,[...] — Determined to build a State of a new type, expression of the interests of the working masses, and to build a society in conformity with the socialist principles set out in the 'Charter of the Malagasy Socialist Revolution'，"[53][54]
Section 2, Article 9: "The Democratic Republic of Vietnam is advancing step by step from people's democracy to socialism by developing and transforming the national economy along socialist lines, transforming its backward economy into a socialist economy with modern industry and agriculture and an advanced science and technology".[57]
Section 1, Article 1, Chapter 2: "Bearing in mind as its fundamental problem the abolition of the exploitation of men by men, the entire abolition of the division of the people into classes, the suppression of exploiters, the establishment of a socialist society, and the victory of socialism in all lands".[60][61]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of the whole people, expressing the will and interests of the workers, peasants and intelligentsia, the working people of all the nations and nationalities of the country".[62]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Somali Democratic Republic is a socialist state led by the working class and is an integral part of the Arab and African entities".[64]
Section 1, Article 1: "The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic is the whole peoples state that expresses the will and interests of the workers, peasants and intellectuals, workers of the republic of all nationalities".[67]
Section 1, Article 2: "The socialist system in Yugoslavia is based on relations between people acting as free and equal producers and creators, whose work serves exclusively to satisfy their personal and common needs".[69]
Chapter XVI General Provisions: "In order to overcome this deterioration and to build Socialism, the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma assumed responsibility as a historical mission, adopted the Burmese Way to Socialism and also formed the Burma Socialist Programme Party".[71]
Law on National Mobilization Part 2, Article 4: "During the National Mobilization the People's Rally for Progress guarantees the formation and expression of popular consensus and the national will for economic and social transformation. It brings to the President of the Republic, guarantor of national unity, the support of its organization and the action of its activists. It ensures within it the democratic debate between the various social, cultural, economic and regional components of the national community as well as their equitable representation, their free expression and right of proposal. Its statutes must promote a broad development of internal democracy as well as broad popular support for the various institutions of the Republic".[74]
"The Arab Republic of Egypt is a Socialist Democratic State based on the alliance of the working forces of the people."
The 2007 Amendments removed the mentioned of Egypt as a socialist state from Article One.[78][79][80] Socialism was still mentioned in the preamble and other sections, but fully removed following the 2011 revolution.[81][82]
Preamble: "The United National Workers' Party of Equatorial Guinea (PUNT), draws up the general policy of the nation, and coordinates and controls it through the State organs".[83]
The United National Workers' Party was a political party based on African socialism.
Part 1, Article 2: "In the confident expectation of an early surrender of sovereignty to a union of African states and territories, the people now confer on Parliament the power to provide for the surrender of the whole or any part of the sovereignty of Ghana".[84]
Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, is mentioned in the 1960 constitution. Nkrumah and his party, the Convention People's Party, were African socialists, whose party constitution stated: "To establish a socialist state in which all men and women shall have equal opportunity and where there shall be no capital[ist] exploitation".[85]
Ghana's Seven Year Development plan included the task to "[e]mbark upon the socialist transformation of the economy through the rapid development of state and co-operative sectors".[86]
Section 1, Article 6: "The aim of the state is the realization of socialism through the application of social justice which forbids any form of exploitation".[91]
Chapter 1, Article 9: "The popular will is expressed through the democratically organized State Party. The Mauritanian People's Party, born from the merger of the national parties existing on December 25, 1961, is recognized as the only party of the State".[93]
From 1960 to 1975, the African socialist Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS) was the sole legal political party in Senegal and until 1981 there were only three parties allowed a socialist party (UPS), a liberal party and a communist party.[94]
Chapter X, Article 176: "The All People's Congress established and in being immediately prior to the commencement of this Constitution shall continue in being thereafter and be deemed to be the One Party officially recognised in Sierra Leone".[96]
Section 1, Article 8: "The leading party in the society and the state is the Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party. It leads a patriotic and progressive front seeking to unify the resources of the people's masses and place them at the service of the Arab nation's goals".[98]
Section 1, Article 4: "There shall be one and only one political party or organization in Zambia, namely, the United National Independence Party".[100]
These are short-lived political entities that emerged during wars, revolutions, or unrest and declared themselves socialist under some interpretation of the term, but which did not survive long enough to create a stable government or achieve international recognition.
Lyon Commune (4 September 1870 – 28 September 1870; 22 March 1871 – 25 March 1871)
There are multiple states with socialist parties leading the government, sometimes together. Such states are not considered to be communist or socialist states because the countries themselves do not provide a constitutional role for their ruling socialist/communist parties or deem socialism a state ideology. This does not include socialist parties following social democracy, which have governed most of the Western world, much of Latin America, and other regions as part of the mainstream centre-left.
^Cuba maintained its 1940 pre-socialist constitution, despite the rebel victory in the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 1959, until a new Marxist–Leninist constitution was adopted in 1976.
^This date marks the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea as a Marxist-Leninist state. In 1992, the state constitution replaced all references to Marxism-Leninism with mentions of the Juche ideology, though the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea has remained a socialist state since 1948.
^While Juche is generally considered a variety of Marxism–Leninism,[citation needed] there are key differences between the ideologies. For more information see, the development of Juche.
^Although the government's official state ideology now incorporates the Juche element of Kim Il Sung's Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism policy as opposed to orthodox Marxism–Leninism, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea still considers itself a socialist state.[21] According to North Korea: A Country Study by Robert L. Worden, Marxism–Leninism was abandoned immediately after the start of de-Stalinisation in the Soviet Union and it has been totally replaced by Juche since at least 1974.[22]
^Known as the Albanian Communist Party until 1948.
^ abPart of the Soviet Union but admitted into the United Nations as a separate entity.
^The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed its "political and economic independence" from the Soviet Union on 25 August 1991.[36] The Soviet Union itself was dissolved on 26 December 1991.
^The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ceased operations in Russian territory on 6 November 1991 with the Soviet Union itself being dissolved on 26 December 1991. However, the 1978 Russian Constitution with amendments remained in effect until its final abolition on 12 December 1993 when it was replaced with the current constitution.
^The annexation of the Baltic republics in 1940 is considered an illegal occupation by the current Baltic governments and by a number of Western entities, including the United States and the European Union, who assert that the states were independent countries occupied by the Soviet Union. According to Article 76 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the Baltic republics were officially sovereign entities in a federation. However, the Soviet Union was heavily centralized and was de facto a single federal state.
^The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ceased ruling the country on 6 March 1990, when the Congress of People’s Deputies amended Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution and provided a pathway to a multi-party system. However, the Soviet Union would remain constitutionally committed to socialism until it was dissolved on 26 December 1991.
^Little, Daniel (17 May 2009). "Marx and the Taipings". China Beat Archive. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved 5 August 2020. Mao and the Chinese Communists largely represented the Taiping rebellion as a proto-communist uprising.
^Richard F. Nyrop; American University (Washington, D.C.). Foreign Area Studies (1971). Area Handbook for Iraq. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 198.
