What was the first country to adopt socialist principles?
Democratic socialism
The objectives of the Party of European Socialists, the European Parliament's socialist and social democratic bloc, are now "to pursue international aims in respect of the principles on which the European Union is based, namely principles of freedom, equality, solidarity, democracy, respect of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and respect for the Rule of Law". As a result, today the rallying cry of the French Revolution—"Liberté, égalité, fraternité"—is promoted as essential socialist values. To the left of the PES at the European level is the Party of the European Left (PEL), also commonly abbreviated "European Left"), which is a political party at the European level and an association of democratic socialist, socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of running in the 2004 European Parliament elections. PEL was founded on 8–9 May 2004 in Rome.
Socialism in liberal democratic constitutions
In 1970, the government proclaimed the Co-operative Republic of Guyana based on Burnham's idea of co-operative socialism. It was billed as a peaceful revolution, and its first initiative was the nationalisation foreign-owned enterprises. Burnham's described the revolution's professed goal by using the Marxist–Leninist term commanding heights of the economy, meaning the nationalisation of the largest enterprises. According to scholar Ivelaw L. Griffith "By 1976, US, Canadian, and European control over the sugar and bauxite industries, banking, drug manufacturing, imports, local trade, communications, as well as other areas, had all been transferred to the state." The changes were not revolutionary, and the foreign-owners were compensated. The second initiative was the creation and the development of the cooperative sector the economy. It was planned that this sector would dominate the economy, with state and private ownership playing a lesser role. In a further nod to the Marxist–Leninist conception of the socialist state, the PNC adopted the Doctrine of Paramountcy in 1973, which stated that all governing institutions were subordinate to the party. In the words of Burnham "It is the Party that formulates policy on the basis of its ideology, strategy and tactics. It is the Party that mobilizes, educates and appeals to the people ... It is the Party that then selects the members of the political government to execute the former's policy." The PNC's control of the state was strengthened by the establishment of "Office of the General Secretary of the People's National Congress" and the Ministry of National Development in 1974. The Secretariat of the PNC, which the Office of the General Secretary headed, was fused into the Ministry of National Development. It was through this ministry, the PNC governed the country. The takeover of the state was followed by "socialist transformation, the harassing of the opposition and the eliminations of threats (most notably the murder of Walter Rodney), and subverting the electoral process to ensure PNC victories. By Burnham's death on 6 August 1985 the country had moved into an authoritarian direction. His successor Desmond Hoyte, at the beginning, stood by Burnham's policies, saying a couple of months after his death that " Our ultimate goal must be the same as his—creation a socialist society in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. We must reaffirm our commitment and rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of this objective."