Definition of COMMUNISM

Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, and Democracy

Communism, socialism, capitalism, and democracy are all among our top all-time lookups, and user comments suggest that this is because they are complex, abstract terms often used in opaque ways. They're frequently compared and contrasted, with communism sometimes equated with socialism, and democracy and capitalism frequently linked.

Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the word communism has been applied to varying political systems over time. When it was first used in English prose in the mid-19th century, communism referred to an economic and political theory that advocated the elimination of private property and the common sharing of all resources among a group of people; in this use, it was often used interchangeably with the word socialism by 19th-century writers.

The differences between communism and socialism are still debated, but generally English speakers use communism to talk about the political and economic ideologies that find their origin in Karl Marx’s theory of revolutionary socialism, which advocates a proletariat overthrow of capitalist structures within a society; societal and communal ownership and governance of the means of production; and the eventual establishment of a classless society. The most well-known expression of Marx’s theories is the 20th-century Bolshevism of the U.S.S.R., in which the state, through a single authoritarian party, controlled a society’s economic and social activities with the goal of realizing Marx’s theories. Socialism, meanwhile, is most often used in modern English to refer to a system of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control. (The term is also often used in the phrase democratic socialism, which is discussed here.)

Communism and socialism are both frequently contrasted with capitalism and democracy, though these can be false equivalencies depending on the usage. Capitalism refers to an economic system in which a society’s means of production are held by private individuals or organizations, not the government, and where products, prices, and the distribution of goods are determined mainly by competition in a free market. As an economic system, it can be contrasted with the economic system of communism, though as we have noted, the word communism is used of both political and economic systems. Democracy refers not to an economic system but to a system of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised through a system of direct or indirect representation which is decided through periodic free elections. For discussion about whether the United States is accurately described as a democracy or as a republic, see the article here.)

Readers should consult the individual entries for a full treatment of the various ways in which each of these four words is used.

Examples of communism in a Sentence

On one side stood Hitler, fascism, the myth of German supremacy; on the other side stood Stalin, communism, and the international proletarian revolution. — Anne Applebaum, New York Review of Books, 25 Oct. 2007 … I grew up in an idyllic midwestern town in the 1950's, when America was obsessed with the threat of communism. In Lawrence, Kansas, people felt the cold war as something real and very close. In the first grade, my teacher pointed to a giant orange blob on the map. That was Russia, Mrs. Postma announced. They were bigger than we were, and they were out to destroy us. — Sara Paretsky, Booklist, 1 May 2003 Like me, he has lived his adult life in the context of the cold war. He was … in some sense always justified, at the back of his mind, by a concept of freedom, of America, that took sharpness from contrast with Communism. — John Updike, New York Times Book Review, 5 Aug. 1990 Communism is a religion of the state, committed to the extinction of the Church. — Flannery O'Connor, The Habit Of Being, 1979

Recent Examples on the Web Now the Berlin Senate has published a legislative proposal on how a rent ceiling is supposed to work — a clear indication that the leftist city government has forgotten why East German communism failed. — Leonid Bershidsky, Twin Cities, "Leonid Bershidsky: Berlin’s rent cap is a case of communist amnesia," 13 Sep. 2019 Gene was a 1st generation American of Chinese immigrant parents who came to this country to escape communism. — orlandosentinel.com, "Deaths in Central Florida: 8/25," 25 Aug. 2019 States scarred by communism are not incapable of producing strong civil-society movements. — The Economist, "The eastern summer," 8 Aug. 2019 Like other eastern Europeans, most Hungarians saw the rejection of communism as a victory not so much of liberalism or capitalism as of national identity. — The Economist, "How Viktor Orban hollowed out Hungary’s democracy," 29 Aug. 2019 The novel sold out its first printing of 6,000 in days, but a second edition was not allowed until after the collapse of communism in 1989. — Pablo Gorondi, Washington Post, "Gyorgy Konrad, writer and dissident in communist Hungary, dies at 86," 14 Sep. 2019 Like other eastern Europeans, most Hungarians saw the rejection of communism as a victory not so much of liberalism or capitalism as of national identity. — The Economist, "How Viktor Orban hollowed out Hungary’s democracy," 29 Aug. 2019 Few hospitals have been built in Romania since the 1989 fall of communism, a situation most blame on endemic government corruption. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Metallica donates to Romanian pediatric cancer hospital," 15 Aug. 2019 Like other eastern Europeans, most Hungarians saw the rejection of communism as a victory not so much of liberalism or capitalism as of national identity. — The Economist, "How Viktor Orban hollowed out Hungary’s democracy," 31 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'communism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.