Socialism's growing appeal meets an awkward reality check on college campus
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Socialism is gaining popularity among young Americans, but Fox News Digital found strikingly different understandings of the ideology among college students, some of whom acknowledged that their generation may not fully grasp what they're embracing.
A recent Fox News poll found that 48% of Americans ages 18 to 34 viewed socialism favorably, compared with 32% of Americans overall. When Fox News Digital asked more than a dozen University of Michigan students to define socialism, their answers ranged from government-funded safety nets and affordable health care to collective ownership of industry.
"If the definition was more widely known, people would support it less honestly," one student, Ahnika, told Fox News Digital.
Other students acknowledged the confusion, while at least a dozen declined to be interviewed on camera because they said they did not know enough about socialism to give an informed answer.
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"Absolutely. I feel like many people don't really understand, I feel, the full grasp or scope of what socialism really means," a student named Owen told Fox News Digital. "I think they kind of have a more idealistic image of it."
The divide over what socialism actually means comes as the ideology becomes an increasingly prominent issue in American politics, including Michigan's closely watched Senate contest, where Republicans have sought to tie Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed to socialism – despite his rejection of the label.
Socialism? It's a safety net
Some of the students interviewed used the word socialism as a way to describe a government that spends more money on subsidizing healthcare, housing or other basic necessities.
"It's an economic system in which the resources of the government … are allocated into public services such as housing, affordable housing, food like food banks, education, things like that," James, one student, told Fox News Digital.
"Socialism to me is a concept in politics where everybody gets a little bit of everything. Everybody benefits and everybody is really taken care of. Kind of that social net that you see in other types of politics," Kayla, another student, said.
"It's a political system where less social goods are delivered by the market than in capitalism," said her fellow student, Sam.
Republicans and centrist Democrats have both raised concerns about the rising tide of socialism, while young people turn to it as a solution to the cost of living.
"Does the socialism thing scare me? Yes. Is it the wrong solution? Yes," Vice President JD Vance said in a July interview. "But one thing I try to persuade my fellow Republicans of is socialism is the alternative if we don’t have a pathway to give people a sense that the system is not rigged and that the American dream is attainable."
While the precise definition of socialism is debated by economists and philosophers, the ideology generally calls for replacing private ownership of major productive assets with some form of public, collective or worker ownership, though socialists differ sharply over whether that control should be exercised through the government, workers themselves or other institutions.
Modern socialism emerged as a major political and economic movement in 19th-century Europe, fueled by concerns over wealth inequality, industrial working conditions and the concentration of economic power in private hands.
A fair number of the students who spoke with Fox News Digital had understandings of socialism more in line with this traditional definition.
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Or is it government control?
"It's an economic system where certain aspects [of the economy] are controlled by the government such as health care, possibly housing, agriculture, general necessities," Owen said. "It's distinct from communism in that the government does not have free rein over every aspect of the market, but it's not the same as capitalism where the free market determines everything."
How far government control should extend has long divided socialists. Some advocate government ownership of nearly all major industries, while others favor worker-owned businesses amid a mix of public and private enterprise.
"I guess I would define it as an economic system where resources are shared in a more, in a somewhat equitable sense, and there's some level of, you know, public control of that," Zack, also a student at the university, told Fox News Digital. "It’s not really any more specific than that, socialism is a broad term, you know?"
While some young Americans associate socialism with government control of private businesses, an idea that has long faced resistance in American politics, the ideology has gained support among younger voters, even as they differ over what it would mean in practice. The Democratic Socialists of America, which advocates replacing capitalism with a more collectively controlled economy, has seen its ranks swell with members and notched a series of electoral victories during the second Trump administration.
"I'd say I define socialism by the government taking collective ownership of companies’ production and distribution of goods," student Ahnika told Fox News Digital.
"As far as I’m aware, it’s about like workers and members of society owning the product … as opposed to capitalism where you make the product, if you work on an assembly line, the product goes to your manager or whoever runs the factory and then they make most of the profit off of your work," Noah, also a student, told Fox News Digital.
Maybe it's Canada?
Others defined socialism in relation to countries or politicians.
"Mostly I think of Canada when I think of socialism," Samantha, another student, told Fox News Digital. Elyse, her peer, said that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani comes to mind when thinking of a definition for socialism.
The University of Michigan’s student body isn’t alone in its division over the definition of socialism.
Gallup found in 2018 that 23% of Americans thought the word meant "equality, including equal rights, standing or distribution," while 10% defined it as "provision of benefits and services, such as health care," 6% said it was "communism or a modified version of it" and further 6% understood it to be "being social or getting along with others."
Roughly a quarter of respondents had no opinion on the definition of socialism, and just 17% described it as "government ownership or control of businesses and the economy," the definition typically favored by economists.
Michigan, where many of the students interviewed vote, could easily decide control of Congress following November’s midterm elections. Socialism is a major issue in the race, with Republicans attempting to portray Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed as a socialist — a label he rejects despite a long-running association with the Democratic Socialists of America.
At least a dozen students told Fox News Digital that they were not comfortable filming an interview because they did not feel they knew enough about socialism to give an informed response, further highlighting the degree of confusion surrounding the term among young people.
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While the students couldn’t agree on what socialism meant, they did agree that their peers were confused.
"Yeah, I mean there's sort of a general idea of an equitable distribution of resources, but other than that, in terms of how it should be done, um like what it actually looks like, how power is distributed, there's a lot of open questions there," said Zach.
"Yeah, absolutely. There's a huge misconception about socialism, even capitalism as well," a student named Jeff told Fox News Digital. "So I think these terms in the broader space of political thought are probably allegories depending on your political orientation for good or bad … that's probably the most ubiquitous use of that term. ‘Socialism bad, capitalism good,’ or vice versa if you're a progressive."
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Other students felt their peers were too quick to define socialism in relation to other political systems.
"I would say some people would compare socialism to communism as being practically identical, whereas others would just understand it as having a stronger social safety net like in like Nordic countries," Sam said, noting that he doesn’t feel there is a right or wrong definition for the word.
"Yeah, I feel like a lot of people don't really understand what socialism is," Tommy, another student, said. "I feel like they think that sometimes it's communism and they conflate the two. So I feel like people need to educate themselves on what the concept actually is."
One student felt that, if more people understood socialism to imply government ownership of industry, the system would be significantly less popular.
"I honestly think there’s a bit of confusion … If the definition was more widely known, people would support it less honestly," Ahnika said. "Rather than having a good understanding of what socialism is, people often try to antagonize the opposite end of the spectrum, which is private ownership."
Not everyone felt that the ambiguity surrounding the term was necessarily a bad thing, however.
"I think having complex definitions of things only encourages conversation and when those conversations can be productive and when we approach them in a productive way I think we only uh strengthen what can be the collective definition of stuff like socialism," Elyse told Fox News Digital.