58% of Democrats favor socialism over American capitalist model: CBS News poll

Democrat voters in the US have a more favorable view of socialism than capitalism, according to a new poll from CBS News. The poll showed that among all those surveyed, the free market system is seen as a good thing and over the the left-wing economic system of socialism.

Overall, US voters see socialism negatively, with 42 percent having a disapproving view of socialism and only 35 percent having a positive view, according to the poll of 2,287 US adults. The poll was conducted between August 12 and 14 with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.

When broken down by party affiliation, 58 percent of Democrats hold a positive view of socialism while only 18 percent have a negative view of the left-wing economic system, according to the poll. For capitalism, 32 percent of Democrats have a positive view of the free market while 50 percent of them have a negative view of it.

Those Democrats that prefer socialism are white, young, and college educated. 71 percent of Democrats with a college degree said they had a favorable view of socialism, while only 49 percent of Democrats without a degree said the same.

Those saying that socialism is a good idea believe that it would make their financial situation better while capitalism, they say, makes it worse. The label of "democratic socialist" is particularly alluring to Democrats, with much less negativity directed at the term within the party. 53 percent of Democrats said they when someone describes themselves as a "democratic socialist" that is a good thing. This is as opposed to the 18 percent of Democrats who have a negative view of socialism. Of that cohort, only 12 percent of Democrats view "democratic socialism" in a similarly negative view. 35 percent are on the fence about the term "democratic socialist."

With the GOP, 72 percent of the party has a positive view of capitalism, with only a 14 percent negative view of the economic system. Despite the high favorability of capitalism in the GOP, many do not line up with free market principles when it comes to individual policy.

According to the poll, a majority (54 percent) of the GOP says they approve of price controls along with 75 percent of Democrats. 46 percent of the GOP is not in favor of price controls.