Gallup Poll: Do people prefer socialism or capitalism

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Gallup Polling

Aug 11, 2026

1. Image of Socialism and Capitalism

Line Chart: Trend in Americans' positive ratings of capitalism and socialism.

The Data: Gallup’s 2025 update on Americans’ views of different economic systems found that 54% of Americans viewed capitalism positively, down from 60% in 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, 39% viewed socialism positively, essentially unchanged since 2019. Gallup will be updating these figures later this year.

The Gap: Capitalism's favorability advantage over socialism shrank to 15 percentage points last year, down from 22 points in 2021. This reflected a decline in positive views of capitalism, while attitudes toward socialism held steady.

2. Partisan Views Diverge

Multiple Line Chart: Trend in opinions of capitalism and socialism, by political party.

The Data: Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to view capitalism positively (74% vs. 42%, respectively), while Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to view socialism positively (66% vs. 14%).

Party Differences: Democrats' positive views of socialism have risen steadily since 2010, while their approval of capitalism has fallen to a trend low. Republicans’ positive ratings have been consistently high for capitalism and low for socialism. Independents continue to fall between the two major parties on both measures.

3. Capitalism/Socialism: The Good

Bar Chart: Americans' perceptions of what's good about capitalism and socialism.

Capitalism: Americans most often cite personal advancement and incentivizing hard work (35%) as what’s good about capitalism, followed by innovation and economic efficiency (29%) and freedom and market choice (17%).

Socialism: When asked to name something good about socialism, Americans most frequently volunteer "nothing" (30%), followed by its role in providing basic services and safety nets (26%) and promoting equality and fairness (23%).

4. Capitalism/Socialism: The Bad

Bar Chart: Americans' perceptions of what's bad about capitalism and socialism.

Capitalism: Americans most often point to greed and ethical failures (24%) as capitalism’s drawbacks, followed by inequality and wealth gaps (23%) and corporate power and market abuse (21%).

Socialism: Americans cite economic problems and inefficiency (21%) as socialism’s main flaws, followed by government overreach and control (19%) and disincentivizing work and creating dependency (18%).

5. Partisan Gaps in Perceived Benefits

Range Plot: Views on what's good about capitalism and socialism, by political party.

Capitalism: Republicans most often identify personal advancement and incentives as capitalism's greatest strengths (47%), while Democrats most often cite innovation and efficiency (32%). Republicans are also more likely than Democrats to mention economic fairness and opportunity (23% vs. 13%) and freedom and market choice (23% vs. 16%).

Socialism: A majority of Republicans (54%) say there is nothing good about socialism, a view shared by only 11% of Democrats. Democrats, by contrast, most often name basic services and safety nets (34%) and equality and fairness (32%) as socialism's greatest strengths.