what s the difference between social democracy and democratic socialism 
social democracy is based on maintaining a capitalist economic system but blunting its excesses via regulation and addressing inequality with government run social programs in a sense humanizing capitalism social democracies exist today in denmark finland norway and sweden 12democratic socialism has a vision of a society and economy that is democratic not authoritarian in which individuals have more of a say than large corporations in how the economy is run it is committed to finding ways to transform an economy from capitalism to socialism as the website of the democratic socialists of america notes our vision pushes further than historic social democracy and leaves behind authoritarian visions of socialism in the dustbin of history we want to collectively own the key economic drivers that dominate our lives such as energy production and transportation 13