abstract:Democratic socialism is a variant of socialism that rejects centralized, elitist, or authoritarian methods of transitioning from capitalism to socialism in favor of grassroots-level movements aiming for the immediate creation of decentralized economic democracy. Most notably, democratic socialists reject the perceived authoritarian character of Vanguardism and similar ideas central to Leninism and Marxist-Leninist socialist movements.
His Social Democrats and their most likely partners, the Greens, would have to win a Bundestag majority against the three parties of Helmut Kohl's present centre-right coalition plus the Party of DemocraticSocialism.