Difference Between Communism and Socialism (With Comparison Chart)

There are a number of political systems prevalent in different countries of the world. Communism and socialism are two such economic system, which are commonly juxtaposed by the people. While communism is described as a social organization system where the community owns the property and each individual contributes and receives wealth as per their needs and ability.

On the other hand, Socialism is an economic theory wherein the means of production, distribution, and exchange are owned and controlled by the society as a whole. Wealth distribution in socialism is done as per the efforts and contribution. Here you should know that Communism is a subset of socialism. Just take a read of this article to know the important differences between communism and socialism.

Just take a read of this article to know the important differences between communism and socialism.

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Communism	Socialism
Meaning	Social organization system, that focuses on communal ownership and eliminating class distinction.	Theory of social organization where there is public or cooperative ownership of the means of production.
Ideology	Political and economic	Economic
Proposed by	Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels	Robert Owen
Main idea	To achieve equality among members of society and promoting classless society.	To achieve equality and fairness among the society members.
Basis of wealth distribution	According to the needs.	According to the efforts or contribution.
Means of production	Equally owned by the members of the state.	Owned by the citizens.
Management of resources	Lies on few people belonging to a particular authoritarian party.	Done by the people
Ownership of property	Private Property cannot be owned, but personal property can be owned.	Yes
Capitalism	It removes capitalism.	Can exist in socialism.
Economic Market	Limited competition with state owned industries.	No competition. Industries and markets are owned by state.
Labor	Workers can choose their occupation.	State determines the occupation and employment of the worker.
Business	State owns the main industries, but other businesses also exists.	State owns all the productive capacity.

Definition of Communism

Communism refers to the political and economic system which is based on the ideas of common ownership on the factors of production and there is no presence of class, state and money. It aims at establishing a communist society.

The word ‘communism’ is a Latin origin, which means ‘common’. In communism, the factors of production are owned by the people commonly. Here the wealth is distributed among people on the basis of their needs. It is based on the principle of economic equality.

China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos are some of the countries where communism still exists.

Definition of Socialism

The economic system in which the factors of production are commonly owned, managed and controlled by the society. It is based on the principle of equality where all the people have similar rights.

In this form of social organisation wealth is distributed among people as per the efforts made by them. In socialism, there is an equal distribution of income which aims at filling the gap between rich and poor.

A Central Planning Authority exists in this system that sets the socioeconomic objectives. In this economy, people have the right to work, but they cannot select the occupation of their choice. Occupation of people is decided only by the authority.

Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Canada are some countries where socialism exists.

Key Differences Between Communism and Socialism

The paramount differences between communism and socialism are discussed in the given points:

Communism is defined as the system of social organisation where the focus is made on communal ownership and a classless society. Socialism refers to the social organisation in which there is public or cooperative ownership of the means of production.
Communism is both political as well as economic theory while socialism is an economic theory.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the German Philosophers, propounded the concept of communism whereas Robert Owen propounded Socialism.
The theme of communism is to achieve equality among members of society and advocates a society free from class. On the other hand, achieving equality and fairness among the society members is the main idea of socialism.
In communism, the wealth is distributed among the people according to their needs. Conversely, in socialism, the distribution of wealth is based on the contribution made by them.
The members of the state collectively own the means of production in communism. As opposed to socialism where the means of production are owned by the citizens.
In communism, the management of resources lies in the hands of few people belonging to a particular authoritarian party. In the case of socialism, the management of resources is done by the people.
In socialism, people are free to own property. However, ownership of public property is permitted, but private property is not permitted, as it makes a distinction between public property and the private one.
Communism tries to remove capitalism, whereas, in socialism, somehow capitalism exists.

Conclusion

Both the ideologies promote secularism (i.e. Rejects religion). Communism has lost its existence with the passage of time. The only reason for the non-existence of communism in most of the countries is that it removes the incentives that inspire people to work harder. The man who works hard will receive the same amount of money as an idle man gets. However, Socialism still exists in many countries.