The communist party was pretty successful in helping to overthrow the Portugese dicatorship in the early '70s, but they were also democrats. They're still one of the major political parties in Portugal, and you see ads for the communist party everywhere.

The Indian state of Kerala is the most advanced, well run, and successful region of the country. On development indexes it ranks with the poorer regions of the EU. It's also largely a communist state, but once again the communists are democrats.