Rasmussen Poll: US Voters 'Strongly Prefer' Capitalism to Socialism

Most likely voters in the United States say that capitalism is a better economic system than socialism in the latest poll from Rasmussen Reports.

Over half of likely voters said that capitalism "is a better system" than socialism:

• 67% said capitalism.
• 17% said socialism.
• 16% were unsure.

Voters were split down party lines, with Republicans being much more likely than Democrats to have a positive view of capitalism, and Democrats being more likely to hold a positive view of socialism than members of the GOP:

• 81% of Republicans preferred capitalism to socialism.
• 51% of Democrats preferred capitalism.
• 62% of independents preferred capitalism.
• 11% of Republicans preferred socialism.
• 26% of Democrats preferred socialism.
• 15% of independents preferred socialism.

The poll follows a similar survey from Pew Research Associates released last Fall, which showed support for capitalism dropping slightly among both Democrats and Republicans in the last few years. Although a majority in that survey, 57%, viewed capitalism positively, that number is 8 percentage points lower than it was in 2019, when 65% viewed capitalism positively.

Rasmussen also found that more than half of voters would not vote for a socialist candidate:

• 53% would not "vote for a candidate who supported socialism."
• 28% would vote for a socialist candidate.
• 19% were unsure.

Rasmussen polled 900 likely U.S. voters from February 5-7, 2023 with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

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