What is the difference between a Socialist and a Social Democrat?
by 
Diego Perez
ANSWERS: 1
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Let me rephrase your question slightly. What is the difference between a democratic socialist and social democrat? I do this to emphasize that socialism is no way undemocratic, and that true socialists in fact promote democracy as the proper way to run any just and free society. People get the impression because of states like Cuba and the USSR that socialism is undemocratic. It isn't, as these states were never truly socialist to begin with. As for your question, the short and simple answer is as follows: a democratic socialist believes that the capitalist system is inherently flawed and that the only real solution to society's problems is the path towards socialism. A social democrat agrees that capitalism does have certain problems, but believes that it is still a fundamentally decent system, and thus prefers to merely work to protect social causes and services within the framework of the capitalist system, and curb some of the dangerous products of capitalism. Much of the Nordic countries in Europe believe in social democracy, as evidenced by their expansive social welfare safety nets while still being capitalist states.
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