“Democratic Socialist.” The term has appeared frequently in political coverage recently, especially with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) backed candidates winning in primaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The term has been used as an alarm word, or as a badge of honor of sorts, but what does it really mean?
The definition of socialism put simply is a system of society or of group living in which there is no private property. This is important because there are three layers of distinction that need to be made to understand a term like “Democratic Socialism”. Typically the “socialist” ideas you hear about in American politics aren’t actually socialist ideas, rather they are socially democratic ideas. Social democracy is essentially capitalism with a robust welfare state, heavy regulation, and redistribution. It’s also known as the Nordic model because many western European center-left governments practice this. In America, policies that typically fall under the social democratic umbrella of ideas are: Medicare, Social Security, minimum wage legislation. Policies you are probably familiar with. Then there’s democratic socialism as it is in American politics, which sits somewhere between the two. The DSA has called for moving beyond capitalism on it’s platform. However, the candidates who run under this banner tend to campaign on social democratic policy. That gap is exactly why and how the term can have entirely different meanings depending on who is using it.
We see ‘Democratic Socialism’ or these socially democratic ideas talked about especially now after DSA-backed candidates take big upset wins in their primaries. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed some of these candidates. Such as: Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander. All of whom, won their primaries in New York City just this past Tuesday. The biggest upset coming from New York’s 13th district where Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly defeated a five-term incumbent in Adriano Espailliat, who had endorsements from members of the Democratic establishment, like the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries among others. (It’s important to note, while it is impressive for a candidate like Avila Chevalier to win against someone like Adriano Espailliat, some of these districts are deep blue meaning more progressive candidates like Darializa have better chances of winning.)
So if you hear the term ‘Democratic Socialist’ either in a context that sounds like an alarm or a rallying cry, you now have the tools to ask the real question: is this candidate really this category or are they being categorized? That’s for you to decide.
-Elijah Iraheta, Editor In Chief, Saber News
