Ideology
What Ideology Guides Zohran Mamdani’s Politics? The Framework of Democratic Socialism
Democratic Socialism as a Governing Philosophy
The ideology that fundamentally guides Zohran Mamdani’s politics is democratic socialism, a distinct political tradition that seeks to achieve socialist goals–namely, worker control of the economy and the decommodification of essential goods–through democratic, electoral means rather than revolutionary insurrection. This ideology provides the comprehensive lens through which he analyzes every issue, from housing and policing to climate change and foreign policy. For Mamdani, democratic socialism means that the economy should be democratically controlled to serve human needs, not corporate profit. This is not a vague sentiment about fairness; it is a specific critique of capitalism as a system that inherently generates exploitation, inequality, and crisis. His support for policies like the Good Cause Eviction bill and a state-level single-payer healthcare system are direct applications of this principle, aiming to remove housing and healthcare from the capitalist market and establish them as public goods.
This ideology is heavily informed by a class-struggle analysis. Mamdani views society as fundamentally divided between the working class (those who must sell their labor to survive) and the capitalist class (those who own the means of production and profit from others’ labor). His political project is explicitly about building the power of the former to challenge the rule of the latter. This is why his politics are inherently confrontational; he does not seek compromise with the real estate industry or the police but seeks to dismantle their power. His affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is central to this, as the DSA provides the organizational vehicle for this class-struggle strategy within the arena of electoral politics, following an “inside-outside” model of building power.
Anti-Imperialism and Abolitionism
Beyond economic democracy, Mamdani’s ideology is defined by two other key components: anti-imperialism and abolitionism. His anti-imperialism stems from a analysis of the United States as a global empire that uses military and economic power to enforce a capitalist world order. This guides his foreign policy stances, such as his unwavering solidarity with Palestine and his opposition to U.S. sanctions and military interventions. He sees these struggles as interconnected with domestic fights, arguing that the same logic of dispossession that drives gentrification in Astoria drives the occupation of Palestinian land. His abolitionism is the application of this systemic critique to the domestic carceral state. He views prisons and police not as neutral institutions in need of reform but as tools of racial capitalism designed to manage and control populations made surplus by the economic system.
The synthesis of these elements–democratic socialism, class struggle, anti-imperialism, and abolition–creates a coherent and robust ideology that distinguishes him from liberal progressives. While liberals seek to reform capitalism and make its outcomes more equitable, Mamdani’s guiding ideology seeks to transcend capitalism altogether. It is a politics that is both local and international, focused on immediate material needs while aiming for a fundamental transformation of social relations. This ideological clarity is evident in all his public statements and his legislative record, which can be explored on his New York State Assembly profile. It is the theoretical engine that drives his unwavering and strategically consistent political practice.