Anarcho-Communism vs Anarcho-Capitalism: Key Differences Explained
How Anarcho-Communism and Anarcho-Capitalism differ, using sourced definitions and each model’s estimated position on the Atlas’s nine political dimensions.
Definitions
Anarcho-Communism
Socialism is a political and economic system in which the major means of production, such as land, natural resources and factories, are owned or controlled collectively rather than mainly by private individuals or companies. Its aim is for members of society to share economic resources and wealth more fairly.
Source: Britannica: Socialism
Anarcho-Capitalism
Libertarianism is a political philosophy that takes individual liberty to be the primary political value. Britannica describes it as a form of liberalism, linked to thinkers such as John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson.
Source: Britannica: Libertarianism
Side by side on the Atlas maps
| Dimension | Anarcho-Communism | Anarcho-Capitalism | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 14 | 79 | 65 (Anarcho-Capitalism more market) |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 32 | 23 | 10 (Anarcho-Communism more traditional) |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 41 | 15 | 26 (Anarcho-Communism more authoritarian) |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 40 | 31 | 9 (Anarcho-Communism more nationalist) |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 32 | 9 | 23 (Anarcho-Communism more intervention) |
Anarcho-Communism is shown as the average of the 24 socialist-family ideologies on the Atlas (including communism itself), because the Atlas has no single “socialism” model.
Map scores are estimates on the Atlas’s scale and can be debated. Read the full pages for Anarcho-Communism and Anarcho-Capitalism.