The American public continues to express more positive opinions of “capitalism” than “socialism,” although the shares viewing each of the terms positively have declined modestly since 2019. Today, 36% of U.S. adults say they view socialism somewhat or very positively, down from 42% in May 2019. And while 57% of the public continues to view capitalism favorably, that is 8 percentage points lower than in 2019. Much of the decline in positive views of both socialism and capitalism has been driven by shifts in views among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. In 2019, nearly two-thirds of Democrats and Democratic leaners had a positive view of socialism. Today a smaller majority, 57%, of Democrats say they have a positive impression. There has not been significant change among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents since 2019. Today, just 14% say they have a positive impression of socialism, while about four times as many say they have a very negative view of the term.
