Communism is a complicated , loaded word . While the exacting definition is subject to lots of debate , there is wide agreement on the commonwealth call themselves communist today .
So , what commonwealth are communist ? Read on for the response to that question , along with a listing of communist countries that be in the past .
5 Presently Communist Countries
With an acknowledgment that there subsist some disagreement around the whole " socialism vs. communism " motion — more on that below — here is a list of the countries that today can be state to align with the communist political orientation , at least so far as they are course by a communist party of some stripes .
1. China
China — formally , the People ’s Republic of China — with over 1.4 billion inhabitants , is the world ’s secondly - most populous country . Its government is totally ruled by the CCP , the Chinese Communist Party .
Today , while economic control is concentrated at the res publica level , various industry have undergone market - based reforms , and there is a level of private ownership , as well as some very loaded person .
They are a far cry from a classless society , in other news , but are still recall of as a communist country .
2. Vietnam
Officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , this res publica of over 100 million indweller is another model of an economical system that ’s compatible with communism .
In Vietnam , the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only political party , and maintains fair all-inclusive ascendency over the economy , with many state owned enterprise still operate . Since the 1980s , however , the economical system has become more mixed , with individual possession becoming more common .
3. North Korea
The Democratic People ’s Republic of Korea is also unremarkably referred to as a communist body politic . Political office is held exclusively by the Worker ’s Party of Korea , which is centered around the Kim family , despite its claims to being a democratic state .
The 26 million people of North Korea have long suffer from human rights maltreatment , knockout deficit of introductory requisite and very small contact with the outside cosmos . Still , the extensive state ownership of the means of production has lead to its connection with the ideals of communism .
4. Cuba
Home to about 10 million people , the Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea . While the ruling communist party has held power since the sixties , like many communist states , the economic system has become progressively friendly to private enterprise , peculiarly in recent years .
Cuba is also known for its telling achievements in public wellness , despite being a comparatively poor country .
5. Laos
The Lao People ’s Democratic Republic , like its neighbor Vietnam , is one of two countries in Southeast Asia committed to building a communist fellowship . Like many communist governments , it has only one legally recognized party : the Lao People ’s Revolutionary Party .
Also like many present - day socialistic countries , it has seen increase leeway for market reform and private holding , peculiarly in recent years .
Communism: A Brief Overview
Communismis an influential strain of modernistic political and economic political orientation . loosely speaking , it might be best sum up up by Karl Marx , who famously said"to each according to his indigence , from each according to his ability . "
It means a system free of exploitation , where everyone contribute to the plebeian commodity as they are capable .
While some of the ideals of communism go back into the ancient man , by the modern era — specially the latter one-half of the 19th century — they had taken shape in their currently - recognizable form : common possession of property , the abolition of societal classes and the eventual dissolution of the country .
What that looks like in exercise , as well as how to actually get there from the current system — which most political and economic creative thinker agree is some reading of capitalism — is something that pretty much nobody match upon .
Still , there have been attempts ( many of them fairly recent ) to make such a society , or to begin a transition to that scheme .
Communist Parties vs. Achieving Communism
Part of the confusion surrounding the term " communism " has to do with the difference of opinion between communist party , communistic countries and communism as a desired close - state of matter .
Many people in countries under so - called " communist rule , " or who go to this or that communist party , will be warm to respond that what they are doing is n’t actually communism ; that will come later .
That ’s because in the communistic distinguished scheme of things , the progression run something like :
Capitalism > Socialism > Communism
Eventually , according to many thinkers , the capitalist economy will flow apart due to its own inherent contradiction , ushering in state socialist economy , where the body politic will own and direct the economy on behalf of the workers .
in the end , after an indeterminate amount of sentence , the state will " wither away " and we ’ll be left with people who are turn , play , consuming and generally enjoy life sentence without the need for the state apparatus .
Where Did the Revolution Go?
How all of this works is open to a lot of debate . Famously , the Soviet Union was create as the upshot of a fierce gyration ( same for thePeople ’s Republic of China ) , which is how most exponents of communism think change had to happen .
But then , after the Soviet Union collapsed , mess of communist parties had to revise their way of thinking and behaving in the creation .
Crucially , then and now , nobody really claimed that they had finally reach communism . In fact , some of the names of the area themselves are a mite of this : theUSSRstands for the United Soviet Socialist Republics , Vietnam ’s prescribed name is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , and so off .
The idea is , while the political parties are attached to the campaign of communism , they are still administer an interim state that is technically socialistic .
8 Formerly Communist Countries
In the middle of the twentieth hundred , there were many more countries under communist prescript . After the Soviet Union collapsed , and the rest of ability shifted dramatically towards the capitalistic country — especially the United States — thing changed fairly quick .
But if we go back to the yr after World War II , when the Soviet Union was still a major big businessman , there were many other commie - lead states .
The following country were led by communist parties for some years after WWII . Many of them were in or allied with the Soviet Union , and when that political systemcollapsed in 1991 , they became non - communist states nigh overnight ( of course of study , the societal transition was n’t instantaneous ) .
