Gallup: Support for Capitalism Hits New Low

Americans are more positive toward capitalism than socialism, but the 54% viewing capitalism favorably is down from 60% in 2021 and near that level in most prior years. Americans remain more negative (57%) than positive (39%) toward socialism, with little movement in these attitudes over time.

Gallup first measured Americans’ opinions of various economic systems or aspects of the U.S. economy in 2010 and has repeated the question six times since then, including in an Aug 1-20 survey.

Democrats and independents view capitalism less positively this year, each showing eight-percentage-point declines since 2021. For the first time, less than half of Democrats (42%) view capitalism positively, while a slight majority of independents (51%) still do. Republicans’ views are essentially unchanged, with three-quarters holding a positive opinion.

Stability in U.S. adults’ opinions of socialism obscures Democrats’ more positive views of it over time, from 50% rating it positively in the initial 2010 reading to roughly two-thirds in three readings since 2019. Those increases have been mostly offset by declines in positive ratings of socialism among Republicans. Independents’ ratings of socialism have generally been steady.

Democrats are the only partisan group of the three that views socialism more positively than capitalism — 66% to 42%, respectively. Independents are modestly more pro-capitalism than pro-socialism (51% vs. 38%), while Republicans are overwhelmingly so (74% vs. 14%).

Ratings of Big Business Continue to Decline

This year’s survey asked Americans to evaluate free enterprise, big business and small business in addition to capitalism and socialism. Americans are overwhelmingly positive toward small business (95%) and free enterprise (81%), as they have consistently been. They are far more negative toward big business, with 37% rating it positively and 62% negatively.

Perceptions of big business have tumbled in recent years, including a nine-point decline this year on top of a six-point drop in 2021. In 2019, a slim majority of 52% of Americans still had positive views of big business. The high point was 58% in 2012.

Sixty percent of Republicans, 36% of independents and 17% of Democrats rate big business positively, with the latter two figures being new lows for those groups. Compared with four years ago, Democrats’ rating has fallen the most (down 17 points), while independents’ rating is 10 points lower and Republicans’ is essentially the same. However, Republicans’ positive rating has dropped from 78% in 2019, mirroring the trend in their confidence in big business.

Bottom Line

Americans’ opinions of capitalism were generally steady prior to this year, but the 54% who now view it positively is the lowest Gallup has measured to date. While Americans retain generally positive views of the U.S. economic system, they are less positive toward it than toward free enterprise and small business, two specific aspects of capitalism.

Americans overall continue to be skeptical of socialism, but Democrats are the exception. Since 2016, more Democrats have held positive views of socialism than of capitalism, with the gap expanding to 24 points today. Democrats’ more positive views of socialism occur at a time when many high-profile Democratic officials — most notably, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — have identified themselves as Democratic socialists and advocated policies calling for a significantly expanded government role in economic matters.