What is Democratic Socialism?
As described by former Norwegian prime minister Odvar Nordli.
16 min readJul 10, 2021
Back in 1974, the social democratic prime minister of Norway, Odvar Nordli saw a need to explain the difference between the type of socialism found in the Soviet Union and the democratic socialism championed by social democrats such as him. Today in the English language media there is a lot of confusion about what democratic socialism and what role it played in the development of Nordic social democracies.
Thus here I have chosen to give an English translation of Odvar Nordli’s words on democratic socialism. The original Norwegian article can be found here: Arbeiderpartiet i dag og i morgen.
Read more:
- Why I am a Democratic Socialist — Former social democratic prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme, explains why he is a democratic socialist.
- What is Modern Scandinavian Socialism in 2020? — An explanation of what is meant by socialism in the Nordic tradition, as opposed to say Russian tradition.
- Socialism and Capitalism in Venezuela and Norway — A comparison of the socialist traditions and practices in the two oil countries, Norway and Venezuela. Why are outcomes so radically different?
