Claim: George Orwell advocates a socialistic economic system.

Democratic socialism is a political ideology that advocates political democracy alongside social ownership of the means of production , often with an emphasis on democratic management of enterprises within a socialist economic system . The term `` democratic socialism '' is sometimes used synonymously with `` socialism '' ; the adjective `` democratic '' is often added to distinguish it from the Marxist -- Leninist brand of socialism , which is widely viewed as being non-democratic in practice . Democratic socialism is also sometimes used as a synonym for social democracy , although many say this is misleading because democratic socialism advocates social ownership of the means of production , whereas social democracy does not .   Democratic socialism is distinguished from both the Soviet model of centralized socialism and from social democracy , where social democracy refers to support for political democracy , nationalization of key industries , and a welfare state . The distinction with the former is made on the basis of the authoritarian form of government and centralized economic system that emerged in the Soviet Union during the 20th century , while the distinction with the latter is made on the basis that democratic socialism is committed to systemic transformation of the economy while social democracy is not . That is , whereas social democrats only seek to `` humanize '' capitalism through state intervention , democratic socialists see capitalism as inherently incompatible with the democratic values of liberty , equality and solidarity ; and believe that the issues inherent to capitalism can only be solved by superseding private ownership with some form of social ownership . Ultimately democratic socialists believe that reforms aimed at addressing the economic contradictions of capitalism will only cause more problems to emerge elsewhere in the economy , that capitalism can never be sufficiently `` humanized '' , and that it must therefore ultimately be replaced with socialism .   Democratic socialism is not specifically revolutionary or reformist , as many types of democratic socialism can fall into either category , with some forms overlapping with social democracy , supporting reforms within capitalism as a prelude to the establishment of socialism . Some forms of democratic socialism accept social democratic reformism to gradually convert the capitalist economy to a socialist one using pre-existing democratic institutions , while other forms are revolutionary in their political orientation and advocate for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the transformation of the capitalist economy to a socialist economy .