Communism
U.S. Naturalization Test (2025 Standard) glossary · Civics
Definition
A political-economic system where the government controls the economy; the main U.S. concern during the Cold War.
Communism in plain English
Communism is a system where the government owns and runs the economy — factories, farms, jobs — instead of private businesses and individuals making those choices. The idea is that shared control leads to equality, but in practice it usually means the state has enormous power over people's lives and choices. This mattered hugely to the U.S. during the Cold War (roughly 1945-1991), a decades-long standoff with the communist Soviet Union where the two superpowers competed fiercely but never fought each other directly.
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