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Socialist state
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The term socialist state (or socialist republic, or workers' state) can carry one of several different (but related) meanings:

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The term socialist state (or socialist republic, or workers' state) can carry one of several different (but related) meanings:
- Strictly speaking, any real or hypothetical state organized along the principles of socialism may be called a socialist state. The term socialist republic is used by those socialists who wish to emphasize that they favour a republican form of government. Furthermore, since socialism purports to represent the interests of the working class, many socialists refer to a state organized according to their principles as a workers' state.
- According to Marxism, socialism is a stage of social and economic development that will replace capitalism, and will in turn be replaced by communism. Thus, in Marxist terms, a socialist state is a state that has abolished capitalism and is moving towards communism.
- Some other countries use the term "socialist" in their official name or constitution without claiming to follow Marxism or any of its derivatives. In such cases, the intended meaning of "socialism" can vary widely, and sometimes the constitutional references to socialism are left over from a previous period in the country's history. Examples of countries using the word "socialist" in a non-Marxist sense in their names include the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Countries with non-Marxist references to socialism in their constitutions include India and Portugal.
- Because there are several different branches of socialism, a country's claim to the label of "socialist state" or "socialist republic" is almost always disputed by some branch. Indeed, there are many socialists who strongly oppose certain (or all) self-proclaimed socialist republics. Trotskyists, for instance, are particularly known for their opposition to Communist states.
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