The question Gallup asked was "Just off the top of your head, would you say you have a positive or negative image of "socialism"?
The breakdown
All Americans- 36 percent have a positive image of socialism and 58 percent have a negative image of socialism.
Republican/leaner vs Democrat/leaner- 79 percent of Republican/leaners have a negative image with 17 percent having a positive view of socialism, contrasted by 53 percent of Democrats/leaners, a majority, have a positive image of socialism with only 41 percent viewing it negatively.
The serious contrast comes from the next groups.
Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals- Conservatives- 75 percent negative, 20 percent positive, Moderates- 54 percent negative, 34 percent positive, and liberals- 34 percent negative and 61 percent positive.
The Gallup poll tested seven different terms including small business, free enterprise, entrepreneurs, big business, federal government, capitalism and socialism.
Capitalism was viewed positively by 61 percent of all Americans and negatively by 33 percent.
Socialism
Socialism had the lowest percentage positive rating and the highest negative rating of any term tested. Still, more than a third of Americans say they have a positive image of socialism.
Exactly how Americans define "socialism" or what exactly they think of when they hear the word is not known. The research simply measures Americans' reactions when a survey interviewer reads the word to them -- an exercise that helps shed light on connotations associated with this frequently used term.
There are significant differences in reactions to "socialism" across ideological and partisan groups:
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A majority of 53% of Democrats have a positive image of socialism, compared to 17% of Republicans.
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Sixty-one percent of liberals say their image of socialism is positive, compared to 39% of moderates and 20% of conservatives.
Capitalism
"Capitalism," the word typically used to describe the United States' prevailing economic system, generates positive ratings from a majority of Americans, with a third saying their reaction is negative.
As was the case with "socialism," there are differences across population segments.
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Republicans are significantly more positive than Democrats in their reactions to "capitalism," although majorities of both groups have favorable opinions.
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Opinions of the word by ideology are divided in an unusual, though modest, way. Conservatives have the highest positive image, followed by liberals. Moderates have somewhat lower positive ratings than either of these groups.
One might expect those with negative attitudes toward capitalism to be more likely than others to have positive attitudes toward socialism. That is indeed the case, but the difference in positive attitudes toward socialism between those with positive and those with negative attitudes toward capitalism is fairly modest: 33% vs. 43%, respectively.
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