--- description: Younger voters already view the term more favorably. title: How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56dafea06dbeaaa3/69888c42cd1bbac11a6fff56/gettyimages-509206168.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Bernie Sanders](/tag/bernie-sanders/) ## Bernie Sanders Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S. by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2016 6:49 PM CUT  CONCORD, NH - FEBRUARY 09: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) walks through downtown Concord on election day on February 9, 2016 in Concord, New Hampshire. Sanders, who is expected to win over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, greeted voters before taking a short walk where he was mobbed by members of the media. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) CONCORD, NH - FEBRUARY 09: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) walks through downtown Concord on election day on February 9, 2016 in Concord, New Hampshire. Sanders, who is expected to win over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, greeted voters before taking a short walk where he was mobbed by members of the media. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Spencer Platt—Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2016 6:49 PM CUT Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may not win the Democratic presidential nominee this year, but he has already changed how American politics relates to the word “socialism.” A self-described “democratic socialist,” Sanders has not backed down from the word in his presidential campaign, despite criticism from Republicans and questions from journalists about it. But that’s not hurt him as it might have candidates of years past, in part because younger voters have a different impression of socialism than those who grew up during the Cold War. In [one recent survey by YouGov](https://today.yougov.com/news/2016/01/28/democrats-remain-divided-socialism/ "undefined"), voters aged 18 to 29 were the only age group to report more favorable than unfavorable opinions of socialism, by 43% to 26%. Watch the above video to learn more about how that might affect U.S. politics in the future. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4269555/bernie-sanders-socialism-views-millennials-survey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4269555/bernie-sanders-socialism-views-millennials-survey/"},"headline":"How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S.","datePublished":"2016-03-23T18:49:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:09:36.573Z","description":"Younger voters already view the term more favorably.","url":"https://time.com/4269555/bernie-sanders-socialism-views-millennials-survey/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders","2016 Election topic","socialism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56dafea06dbeaaa3/69888c42cd1bbac11a6fff56/gettyimages-509206168.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56dafea06dbeaaa3/69888c42cd1bbac11a6fff56/gettyimages-509206168.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bernie Sanders","caption":"Bernie Sanders Campaigns On New Hampshire Primary Day In Concord, NH","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bernie-sanders/","name":"Bernie Sanders"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4269555/bernie-sanders-socialism-views-millennials-survey/","name":"How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S."}}]}] ```