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Noah Valdez
Mr. Philips
AP Government
12 September 2016
Critical Essay #1
Democratic socialism can best be defined as a political system wherein the government controls
substantial portions of the countrys land, productive facilities and liquid assets while simultaneously
promoting civil liberties such as political equality through electoral mechanisms (Janda). The theory
draws largely upon the writings of German philosopher Karl Marx, which as a result forms strong
ideology on encouraging economic equality through regulated labor and production, ensuring social
equality by means of affirmative action and union programs, while lastly protecting political equality
through maximizing voter participation (Reimer, Simon and Romance). Several European countries such
as Germany, France, England and Italy have all been devotedly democratic socialist since World War II.
Even in America, politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Eugene V. Debs have also fought for increased
regulation against industrialization and military spending (Reimer, Simon and Romance). Thus, while
there are many policies that can be analyzed through a democratic socialist lens, the Affordable Care Act
and the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 quite clearly illustrate certain basic premises about
socialism.
First and foremost, the Affordable Care Act was created by President Barack Obama and passed
on March 23, 2010 with the explicit purpose of lowering healthcare insurance costs, expanding hospital
availability and updating Americas medical system (Cohn). In the six years since the legislations
passage, it has received mixed reviews both in terms of efficiency and expenditure, being called
unaffordable and intrusive by mostly Republican and Tea Party interest groups. From a democratic
socialist perspective, social and economic equality is essential, if not required, in order for a democracy to
truly be established as such. This particular positions reasoning can be found in the equality of outcome,
which states that it is the role of the government to flatten social stratification so that even the poorest

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might have a stake within the wealthiest of activities (Janda). In France, home of the best healthcare
system in the world, packages have been made so affordable that even the most basic of plans costs only
4,000 dollars per year (Kamrany). While Obamas ACA is still not nearly as efficient as Frances system,
it has provided service to more than 9.9 million Americans and reduced national health costs by 2.6
trillion dollars (Cohn). For socialism, it is impossible to pursue a life of personal pursuits if one is limited
by social, economic and in this case, medical rigors. Political concepts such as elite theory hypothesize
that due to objects like wealth, particular groups of plutocrats control much more of politics and influence
than the average American citizen (Janda). As a result, it would be incorrect to state that David Koch and
an auto mechanic from Detroit have the same amount of political power. Democratic socialism
emphasizes easing this great disparity between men such as Koch and the mechanic, and the Affordable
Care Act is yet another attempt to equalize social relations in America.
Second, the Economic Recovery Tax Act was created by Former President Ronald Reagan on
August 13, 1981 in order to reduce the income tax rate from 50% to 28% (Leonard). While it offered
substantial amounts of much needed monetary leeway as part of Reagans supply-side economics plan, it
did concentrate more wealth into higher classes and cut housing subsidies by almost 3.3 million units
(Dreier). In order to make up for the revenue that the government normally would have received in taxes,
Reagan reduced 60% of all urban aid programs, leaving only infrastructure departments intact for the
construction of highways (Dreier). Most of the cities targeted had high rates of poverty and received 22%
of their funds from the federal level. By the end of Reagans presidency, these cities would receive only
about 6% (Dreier). From a Democratic socialist perspective, supply side economics is faulty enough in its
creation of wealth buildup and smaller government programs. However, in order to sustain a low-tax
lifestyle for the rich at the expense of the lower classes in America is in many regards undemocratic.
While many conservative pundits might argue that the framers never envisioned the government to
promote equality, one should also notice that the level of poverty characteristic of the 1700s was not as
drastic as todays 49 million Americans. Throughout the 21st century, there has been an increasing

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correlation between socio-economic equality and a countrys democratic ranking. It is the same reason
that Norway and Sweden, also democratic socialist countries, are ranked among the most democratic
countries in the world as opposed to the United States ranking of twenty-second (Moyers). Furthermore,
the concept of decreasing income tax runs opposite to democratic socialism as that action is financially
zero sum with providing more public goods and services for the public. For all the aforementioned
reasons, the ERTA would certainly not meet a socialists criteria.
In conclusion, democratic socialism can be summed as a hybrid of a representative democracy
with communist and civil liberty elements. In regards to policy, to determine if an action is entirely
communist or capitalist becomes difficult to classify, but the promotion of equality in all its forms most
often remains a priori. As for what is to come, more countries in regions such as Europe have begun to
abandon the American model of democracy in favor of democratic socialism; the only question left is if
the United States will follow in this liberalizing of the world?

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Works Cited
Cohn, Jonathan. "One More Reason To Feel (Pretty) Good About Obamacare." The Huffington Post. N.p.,
10 Apr. 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Dreier, Peter. "Reagans Legacy: Homelessness in America." Reagan's Legacy: Homelessness in America.
N.p., May-June 2004. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Janda, Kenneth. et al. The Challenge of Democracy American Government in Global Politics. 13th ed.
Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth Pub, 2016. Print.
Kamrany, Nake M. "Obamacare vs. the French Health Care System." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Leonard, Andrew. "The Era of Big Spending and Massive Deficits." Salon. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Moyers, Bill. "Americas Dying Democracy." Consortiumnews. N.p., 23 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Reimer, Neal, Douglas Simon, and Joseph Romance. "Chapter 7. Democratic Socialism and Communism:
Ideologies of the Left." Democratic Socialism and Communism: Ideologies of the Left. Sage
CQPress, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.