can socialism survives where there is a popular vote?

[cheguvera]

can socialism work in countries where there are multi-party systems or multi policy-based democracies?

[Fopeos]

No. Not as long as capitalists control the means of production. The Nicaraguan revolution is a pretty good example of a socialist-led government who failed to appropriate the means of production. They allowed the capitalists to maintain they're economic base and organize their own political parties. In the end, the revo was overturned.

[Jimmie Higgins]

can socialism work in countries where there are multi-party systems or multi policy-based democracies?

Well many here agree that socialism can not be "given from above" by either a dictator or an elected party or office holder and that a revolution by workers is needed in order for people to cooperatively and democratically re-shape the society in the interests of workers. Because modern countries are set up around capitalism and the needs to maintain and profit from private property, capitalism can't simply be legislated away - even when people have tried, usually there has been a massive, bloody, and anti-democratic reaction like Chile under Pinochet. Allende was a popularly elected reformist socialist and he was replaced by a military dictatorship - even Chavez (who I don't think is a revolutionary socialist and isn't even much of a democratic-socialist) had a US-supported coup against him when he won a popular election.

In capitalism, we have "democracy" but only if we don't use it for things that would go against the wishes of our rulers.:rolleyes:

So in a current multi-party state, socialists can run and sometimes even thrive but eventually they will have to either accommodate to the norms of capitalism (as most European Labor, Democratic Socialist, and the Communist Parties in the former Easter Block have done) or they might be outlawed or face massive repression - legal or extralegal.

But after a revolution, I think people will probably organize themselves into parties representing different strategies for the democratic organization of society and production and distribution and so on.