What is a socialist government?

Answer 1

Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. This control may be either direct-exercised through popular collectives such as workers' councils-or indirect-exercised on behalf of the people by the state. As an economic system, socialism is characterized by state or community ownership or control of the means of production. The above is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Socialism.

However, it is quite an elusive term, of which the boundaries have become blurred. For instance, the UK Labour Party (Current UK Government) of which Tony Blair used to lead is a "democratic socialist" party affiliated with Socialism International.

The same can be said for the French government, as for the German government and many other European governments, as an example that there is no prevailing definetion of socialism as it varies from one territory to another.

Answer 2

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocation state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities for all individuals with a fair or egalitarian method of compensation. The first socialists predicted a world improved by harnessing technology and combining it with better social organization, and many modern socialists share this belief, although modern socialists have a bigger emphasis on egalitarianism whereas traditional socialists favored meritorcracy. Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society to attain such status. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved. Socialism is not a concrete philosophy of fixed doctrine and program; its branches advocate a degree of social interventionism and economic rationalization, sometimes opposing each other. Another dividing feature of the socialist movement is the split on how a socialist economy should be established between the reformists and the revolutionaries. Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; while others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy. Socialists inspired by the Soviet model of economic development, have advocated the creation of centrally planned economies directed by a state that owns all the means of production. Others, including Yugoslavian, Hungarian, Polish and Chinese Communists in the 1970s and 1980s, instituted various forms of market socialism combining co-operative and State ownership models with the free market exchange and free price system. Social democrats propose selective nationalization of key national industries in mixed economies combined with tax-funded welfare programs and the regulation of markets; Libertarian socialism (which includes Social anarchism and Libertarian Marxism) rejects state control and ownership of the economy altogether and advocates direct collective ownership of the means of production via co-operative worker's councils and workplace democracy. This article was quoted from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Answer 3

A socialistic society is one that is driven by the social events in a society. Many times this society doesn't survive.