In recent times people who hold this principle have been describing this principle as democratic socialism , to distinguish the principle from authoritarian and undemocratic states which have wrongly described themselves as socialist in character. The word socialism , as it first appeared, was used in publications devoted to cooperatives in Great Britain. Socialism was used to describe a society in which people work together to increase the benefit of all. Another underlying assumption was that people are, by natural rights, equals. Socialists have always been recognized for upholding the principle of the equality of peoples as a highest value.
Socialism describes a society in which people work together to increase the benefit of all.
Because Socialists value the principle of equality, persons truly socialist in spirit value democracy as a vital political principle. In a democracy , each person has the right to be heard and to be given due consideration. The government is chosen by a vote of the people. This is the basis for the label democratic socialist . This label is used to distinguish democratic socialists from people who improperly call themselves socialist and do not support the values of both equality and democracy.