Which countries are completely socialist?
Table of Contents
Marxist–Leninist states
| Country | Since | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| People’s Republic of China | 1 October 1949 | 72 years, 73 days |
| Republic of Cuba | 1 January 1959 | 62 years, 346 days |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic | 2 December 1975 | 46 years, 11 days |
| Socialist Republic of Vietnam | 2 September 1945 | 76 years, 102 days |
Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1959 based on the “one state – one party” principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a Marxist–Leninist socialist state guided in part by the political ideas of Karl Marx, one of the fathers of historical materialism, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin.
How many ‘socialist’ countries have succeeded?
Below, we outline a list of 15 ‘socialist’ countries that have succeeded and also analyze the extent of socialism in their economic models. For our list of 15 socialist countries that have succeeded, we define 4 metrics: innovation index, social progress index, Global Competitiveness and Gini Coefficient index.
When did socialism become the dominant ideology in the world?
The dominance of socialism in global politics peaked in the mid-20th century, during the height of the Cold War. Socialist countries are classified into two categories: countries which belief in Marxism-Leninism ideologies and those which do not.
Some scholars, however, believe that socialism in the country ended in August 1992. Benin is another country whose constitution defines it as a socialist but has embraced a different political ideology. Other examples include Poland, Hungary, Mozambique, and Albania.
No country has ever experimented with pure socialism because of structural and practical reasons. The only state that had come the closest to socialism was Soviet Union and it had both dramatic successes and dramatic failures in terms of economic growth, technological advancement and welfare. In the end however, the state collapsed.