American politicians do not utter the word "revolution" out loud.
But then again, none but Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont identifies themselves as a socialist. And socialists don't fear the term. More accurately, Sanders calls himself a "democratic socialist", which by itself doesn't tell us a whole lot because, it turns out, that label refers to a range of socialist systems that differ quite significantly, as will be shown.
When people think about socialism they usually have in mind revolutionary socialism of the sort that overthrew governments in Russia, China and Cuba. Socialist revolution by armed insurrection. It is important to be clear here. Those are not examples of contemporary democratic socialism.
In the most general sense, democratic socialism can take forms varying from systems that co-exist with capitalism all the way to some types of state socialism where no private ownership exists. To get us more in the ballpark we can look to The Democratic Socialists of America, an organization which represents many socialists here. Their positions reveal the goals of democratic socialists in this country. The following is taken from their website: [http://www.dsausa.org]
Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.
And further:
At the root of our socialism is a profound commitment to democracy, as means and end (sic). As we are unlikely to see an immediate end to capitalism tomorrow, DSA fights for reforms today that will weaken the power of corporations and increase the power of working people. For example, we support reforms that:
decrease the influence of money in politics
empower ordinary people in workplaces and the economy
restructure gender and cultural relationships to be more equitable.
We are activists committed to democracy as not simply one of our political values but our means of restructuring society. Our vision is of a society in which people have a real voice in the choices and relationships that affect the entirety of our lives. We call this vision democratic socialism — a vision of a more free, democratic and humane society.
Clearly DSA's politics are reformist, not revolutionary. Thus, it is a pretty safe bet that Bernie Sanders is NOT calling for violent overthrow of the existing government.
Bernie often refers to Scandinavian countries such as Denmark as models for the type of pro-social programs and policies that social democrats seek for the US. To learn more about the governments and economies of the Scandinavian countries I consulted the CIA World Fact Book. Although Denmark, Norway and Sweden are constitutional monarchies (where the King or Queen are more or less ceremonial leaders whose governing activities are defined and limited by the constitution) and Finland and Iceland are republics, all have extensive public welfare systems in place. Interestingly, Denmark, Finland and Iceland all have capitalist market economies, while Norway and Sweden have mixed economies where state-owned industries exist side-by-side with private businesses.
Here we see a demonstration of democratic socialism operating successfully in environments that differ significantly in their type of government and their type of economy. The social welfare systems of these countries differ somewhat but all are extensive and tend to include such things as free health care, free education through university, guaranteed minimum income, free child care, generous sick and vacation time for workers and generous family leave during pregnancy and after the birth.
Denmark, Finland and Iceland are evidence that a democratic socialist system can thrive in countries with a capitalist economy. These are very stable countries where the people are heavily invested in maintaining the integrity of their social welfare benefits. An important part of this is regulating the free market system in such a way that it never becomes a threat to those benefits as it currently is in the U.S. Republicans in particular, regularly put forward bills on behalf of their Wall Street and corporate clients, that would weaken, abolish or privatize Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
To reiterate: American social democrats are reformers, not revolutionaries. They work to achieve their goals through coalition building, public education and organizing in communities and on campuses. Through creating social movements and influencing electoral politics they seek to advance an anti-corporate agenda and win reforms that restore power to the proper hands, the American people.
In college, Bernie Sanders was an organizer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Today, he continues to recognize the foundational significance of political organizing for the success of progressive politics. He is currently weighing a bid for the presidential nomination in 2016. In his travels around the country this year, I believe he is attempting to organize the organizers for a potential campaign. He is keenly aware that he needs a massively mobilized public to win the nomination and election. As of now, he intends to run only if he believes he can win.
So what does Bernie mean when he talks political revolution? The clearest explanation I found came in an interview by John Nichols published in The Nation in March 2014 [http://m.thenation.com/...]. As part of his answer to a direct question on the matter Bernie replied:
So when I talk about a political revolution, what I am referring to is the need to do more than just win the next election. It's about creating a situation where we are involving millions of people in the process who are not now involved, and changing the nature of media so they are talking about issues that reflect the needs and the pains that so many of our people are currently feeling.
Essentially, what a political revolution means is that we organize and educate and create grassroots movements, which we certainly do not have right now.