A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state which is constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism.
The term communist state is often used synonymously in the West specifically when referring to one-party socialist states governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, despite these countries being officially socialist states in the process of building socialism. These countries have not described themselves as communist nor as having implemented a communist society, but are in the process of doing so.