:The key issue is what movements and ideologies have referred to themselves as democratic socialists, and/or are widely referred to by others (especially in the scholarly literature) as democratic socialists. (The history section talks about the movements and parties most commonly referred to in this way. Most but not all of these believe in some form of state control of the economy (but, as Demigod Ron says, a thoroughly democratic state). Many of them, however, do not believe in the complete abolition of the market, nor in workers control or workers councils.) As to whether DS is a distinct ideology, well, most ideologies have subsets and are part of wider sets.