Trotskyism
Trotskyism is a Marxist current that holds that socialism can only survive as an international revolution. It supports a planned economy and workers' power, but opposes the bureaucratic dictatorship that formed in the Soviet Union under Stalin.
- Revolution must be "permanent", spreading beyond national borders, or it will degenerate.
- The Soviet Union under Stalin became a "degenerated workers' state" ruled by a bureaucracy.
- A planned economy should be combined with genuine democracy of workers' councils.
Leon Trotsky, a leader of the 1917 revolution and founder of the Red Army, set out the theory of permanent revolution and lost the power struggle to Stalin in the 1920s. Exiled, he founded the Fourth International in 1938 and was assassinated in Mexico in 1940. Trotskyist groups have since been active mainly as small parties in Europe and Latin America.
Critics argue that Trotsky himself supported harsh measures, such as the suppression of Kronstadt, before he fell from power. Other socialists see the movement as prone to splits and sectarianism.
Countries and historical regimes whose 12-axis profile is closer to Trotskyism than to any other ideology in the test.
Historical regimes
Trotskyism is also the second-closest ideology for: Attlee’s Britain.
Method: each ideology is placed at a typical position on the 12 axes, scored from 0 to 100 toward the first pole. Ranks compare it with the other 45 ideologies; matches are 100 minus the average distance across all axes. The positions are our own calibration, not taken from any third-party source.