Market socialism combines social or cooperative ownership of enterprises with a market for goods and services, rather than a centrally planned economy.
Key thinkers:Albert Camus, John Rawls, John Maynard KeynesTake the test and your match with Market Socialism shows up here. It is worked out in your browser and never sent anywhere.
Market socialists want firms to be owned by workers, communities or the public, but to compete and respond to prices in markets. The idea is to keep the efficiency of markets while avoiding the concentration of private capital.
Real-world examples are partial. Yugoslavia’s worker self-management was an earlier experiment, and cooperatives such as Mondragon in Spain show the idea at the scale of a firm.
The ideas that most people in this tradition would sign up to.
Early versions go back to 19th-century cooperative thinkers; the economic case was debated in the 1920s and 1930s “socialist calculation” controversy.
Thinkers whose documented positions on the 12 axes align most closely with this ideology.
French-Algerian author · 1913–1960
A French-Algerian writer who wrote on the absurd and on revolt, broke with the communist left over its tolerance of terror, and opposed the death penalty.
“Democracy as a system built on humility and dialogue that curbs the temptation to tyranny.”
Harvard political philosopher · 1921–2002
An American philosopher who proposed that just institutions are those people would choose behind a veil of ignorance, with equal basic liberties and inequalities only where they help the worst off.
“First principle of justice guarantees an extensive scheme of equal basic liberties.”
British economist & civil servant · 1883–1946
A British economist who argued that governments should spend to counter slumps, and who helped design the post-war monetary order at Bretton Woods.
“Attacked punitive reparations in The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) and led the British delegation on the post-war institutions that became the IMF and World Bank.”
These are its strongest leanings, followed by all twelve axes. They describe the typical version of the tradition.
Leans very strongly toward Democratic
85% toward Democratic
Leans strongly toward Irreligious
82% toward Irreligious
Leans strongly toward Collectivize
78% toward Collectivize
Editorial estimates for comparison and discussion. Real people and parties in this tradition vary.
Countries whose estimated profile is most like this ideology. No country follows a single ideology, so read this as a comparison, not a label.
Every tradition has critics. These are the objections most often raised.
Something else on your mind? Get in touch
The test scores you on all twelve axes and ranks every ideology by how well it matches you.
