39% of ALL Americans have positive view of socialism: Gallup poll

A new poll has found that Americans have had increasingly positive views towards socialism and less positive views towards capitalism in recent years. This comes as socialism has been a topic of discussion with socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani winning New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary race.

The Gallup poll found that 54 percent of Americans have positive views on capitalism, down from 60 percent in 2021. The last time this perception dipped below 60 percent was in 2018, when 56 percent said they had a positive perception of capitalism.

Socialism, on the other hand, saw 39 percent of people say they had a positive image of it. Positive perceptions of socialism have been more volatile, reaching 39 percent support also in 2012 and 2019, and dropping as low as 35 percent in 2016.

Gallup first asked the question in 2010 and has repeated it six times over the years. Democrats and independents have dropped eight points since 2021 in their positive view of capitalism. The minority of Democrats for the first time view capitalism as positive, with 42 percent responding as such. Among independents, 51 percent view capitalism positively. Republicans’ views on capitalism have remained essentially unchanged, with 74 percent having a positive opinion.

Men were more likely to have a positive opinion of capitalism than women, with 63 percent of men and 45 percent of women responding as such. Negative opinions of capitalism grew as the age groups got younger, with 35 percent of those ages 55 and older, 44 percent of those ages 35 to 54, and 54 percent of those ages 18 to 34 responding as such.

Positive opinions of socialism also grew among younger Americans, with 46 percent of those in the youngest age group, 42 percent of those ages 35 to 54, and 30 percent of those ages 55 and older responding as such. Socialism was also more supported by college graduates over those with a high school diploma or less, with 47 percent of college graduates having a positive opinion of socialism and 38 percent of high school attendees having positive opinions.

The poll also found that Americans overwhelmingly have a positive opinion of small businesses, at 95 percent, while the majority have a negative opinion of big business, at 62 percent. The poll was conducted between August 1 and 20 of 1,094 American adults and has a margin of error of 4 percent.