Democratic Socialists Of America

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The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are the largest socialist political organization in the United States, with about 78,000 members, about 14% less members than their peak in 2020, but still more than they had in 2015.^[1] The DSA is not a political party per se, but an organization to promote social democratic and socialist reforms such as a US$15 minimum wage, single-payer healthcare, free college, and opposition to free trade deals.^[2] The group grew primarily as a result of Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 runs, where he explicitly promoted 'Democratic Socialism', verbatim, repeatedly on a national stage, despite not being a member of the DSA.

Three members of US Congress are at least nominally members of DSA, and are also all Democrats: Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, Greg Casar, and Rashida Tlaib. However, the first two have increasingly tenuous relations with the DSA. The DSA has considered withdrawing endorsement of AOC due to AOC prioritizing the strength of the Democratic Party over left wing causes and organizations, along with her positions relating to Israel/Palestine.^[3] Greg Casar has also severed electoral relations with his local DSA over Israel/Palestine issues. His local DSA in turn has refused to work with his campaign.^[4]

Electorally, the DSA envisions themselves as an entryist political force which seeks to run "democrat in name only" candidates who promote views established by the DSA. The DSA will generally not run their own candidates under their own party line, unlike the party they splintered from, the Socialist Party USA.

History[edit]

The DSA was founded in 1982 after a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), which originated as an offshoot of the Socialist Party of America, and the New American Movement, the successor organization of Students for a Democratic Society. The party took a position as a sort-of lobbying group seeking to pressure the Democratic Party to move left and has endorsed Democratic candidates for president.

While some other industrialized countries have had strong support for democratic socialism for a long time, this political movement has not been particularly popular in the United States for many reasons. American labor unions have traditionally been focused on wages and working conditions and have never really been extensions of democratic socialism. It did not help that democratic socialists opposed America's entry into World War I, and the backlash was intense. In the years after World War II, widespread prosperity diminished the appeal of socialism for most Americans. Furthermore, a number of "socialist" ideas were adopted into mainstream American politics, as can be seen in the introduction of many government programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. Such programs are not called "socialism," except by critics. It was not until the Great Recession of 2007-2008, which resulted in dramatic loss of income and soaring economic inequality, that democratic socialism made a comeback, starting with Bernie Sanders running for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016.^[5]

In the 2017 off-year elections, the DSA elected 15 into office, including a Marine veteran being elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.^[6]

In 2018, the DSA got notable press coverage for the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a not-so-fringe candidate who campaigned for Sanders back in 2016, beat Joseph Crowley, the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the second most powerful Democrat in the House, and "King of Queens" (the Chair of the Queens County Democratic Party). Crowley spent $3.4 million, while she only spent $194,000, mostly in small donations. And then there was about a thousand new DSA members the next day. Even Trump was impressed.^[7]

In the 2019 off-year elections, the party continued its string of victories by electing six members to the Chicago City Council,^[8] as well capture a half a dozen city seats across the country.^[9]

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic chaos that ensued, the party saw an increase in ten thousand new members over two months.^[10] In 2020, the DSA had sweeping victories in down-ballot elections, including a slate of five candidates being re-elected for the New York legislature^[11] and the defeat of a 35 years incumbent by a progressive challenger in West Philadelphia.^[12]

Relationship with the Democratic Party[edit]

The group has a complex relationship with the Democratic Party, with many members being part of both groups to try to pull the Democratic Party to the left. However, many DSA members want independence from the neoliberalism associated with both major parties and are associated with other parties or none at all. How the DSA should interact with the Democratic Party is frequently debated inside the organization, and sometimes there's a good amount of heat over it.

About half of the 15 DSA members elected in 2017 were Democrats with the other half being independents.^[13] In 2018, almost all of the National DSA's endorsements were for Democrats,^[14] although the National DSA tends to endorse only members that have a high chance of winning, not all candidates (which isn't a good representative of the whole organization anyway).

Ideology[edit]

The DSA is a multi-tendency organization^{[note 1]} composed of social liberals radicalized by Trump, social democrats who want America to stop being the laughing stock of the developed world, democratic socialists who want to use social democracy as a stepping stone towards worker-owned cooperatives, eco-socialists, left revolutionaries and all kinds of anarchism (with the exception of the fake version). This gives the party a heads up over other leftist parties who are usually more concerned with ideological purity than actually achieving any kind of progress.

The term democratic socialism is extremely vague, and can designate forms of socialism that want to achieve their goals through reforms such as nationalisations, as well as communist movements. Historically, it has been used to describe reformist socialism and classical (old-school) social-democratic movements separate from communism. Because of this, some political scientists and dictionary nazis take issue with the contemporary use of the term.

Regardless of the philosophical arguments, democratic socialism is presently seeking traditionally progressive policies like UHC, tuition free education, union rights et al. However it should be noticed that two elected self-proclaimed socialists, Bernie Sanders from Vermont^[16][17] and Lee Carter^[18] from the Virginia House of Delegates both support workplace democracy and employee ownership.

Thanks to its recent growth, the DSA has taken bold steps such as withdrawing from the utterly corrupt Socialist International,^[19] support for the BDS movement and reparations for slavery^[20] as well opposing the politically correct Nazis of the Alt-Right.^[21]

Support for authoritarian leaders[edit]

The DSA often shows its belief in the democratic process by supporting authoritarian figures around the world. On an official statement on Cuba, while comdemning the US embargo on the island, the DSA has also claimed that they are "opposed to U.S. imperialism and to economic sanctions or other actions that would undermine the self-determination of the Cuban people"^[22] ironically ignoring that Cuba is a brutal dictatorship with no "self-determination" whatsoever. Some members of the DSA have also shown fondness for Vladimir Lenin. The former co-chair of the Young DSA for instance wrote a puff piece on Lenin, arguing that "there is much to learn" from him.^[23]

The DSA supported Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro after he rigged an election, stating that they could "verify that the election was conducted freely and fairly",^[24] also translating a text that calls Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's former leader and the cause of much of the turmoil in the country, "a world-historical leader".^[25] On the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the DSA published another work that would probably make Marjorie Taylor Greene proud, stating that "NATO is a mechanism for US-led Western imperialist domination, fueling expansionism, militarization, and devastating interventions."^[26] The text doesn't mention Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin even once. The DSA also came in defense of Mexico's former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, when the mainstream media was accusing him of causing a democratic backslide in his country.^[27]

Notable members[edit]

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-D), member of the US House of Representatives (NY-14).^[28]
• Greg Casar (TX-D), member of the US House of Representatives
• Rashida Tlaib (MI-D), member of the US House of Representatives (MI-13).^[29]
• Kaniela Ing (HI-D), ex-member of the Hawaii House of Representatives.^[30]
• Lee Carter (VA-D), former member of the Virginia House of Representatives.^[31]
• Rob Delaney, comedian and actor.^[32]
• Tim Heidecker, comedian and actor.^[33]
• Noam Chomsky, nearly dead academic and activist.^[34]
• Cornel West, activist.^[35]
• Ed Asner, Actor and former SAG President. Asner was also involved with DSA's predecessor DSOC in the 70s.^[36]
• Cori Bush (MO-D), former member of the US House of Representatives (MO-01)^[37]
• Jamaal Bowman (NY-D), former member of the US House of Representatives (NY-16)^[38]

Bernie Sanders is popular in the DSA but is not a member. There's an 2014 article by the Madison DSA stating he is, but this was just a typo.^[39] Of course, KeyWiki still cites him as one, though.^[40]

Future[edit]

The DSA has three members elected to US Congress and as Democrats,^{[note 2]} down from over 5 a few years ago, with two of the three having tenuous relations. In the past the DSA has had about twelve state legislators and nine confirmed^{[note 3]} members holding municipal seats.

Members can be both a part of the DSA and the Democratic Party, or not affiliated with any of them. Members are discouraged from running as third party candidates and the party has no notable history of such endorsements, although some members have run as independents.

See also[edit]

• Jacobin - A socialist magazine which maintains discussion with the DSA and arguably shares ideological space

External links[edit]

• The DSA website
• See the Wikipedia article on Democratic Socialists of America.
• See the Wikipedia article on Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]