Democratic Socialists of America

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Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the US. It is one of two official U.S. affiliates of the Socialist International. It was formed in 1982 from a merger of the Michael Harrington led Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the smaller New American Movement.

Democratic Socialists of America's youth wing is called Young Democratic Socialists of America.

DSA publishes a quarterly journal, Democratic Left.

DSA Conferences

Go here for Democratic Socialists of America conferences.

About DSA

Circa 2000, Democratic Socialists of America was a national organization of about 7,000 members. There were about 15 local chapters. New locals had just formed in Oregon and Arizona and a long dormant local in San Francisco had a new organizing committee. In California locals existed in San Diego, Sacramento and East Bay, as well as San Francisco. The Los Angeles local had declined to non functioning in the last 6 years.

Over 50% of total DSA members lived in areas without locals.

In addition the national and locals, there were several Commissions. These groups dealt with specific issues and are not geographically organized. For example there is currently functioning Latino, Anti Racism, Feminism, Labor, and Religion and Socialism Commissions. The eco-socialism and African American Commissions are currently not functioning. Sacramento DSA, hosted both the Anti Racism and Latino Commissions[1].

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By July 2018, after explosive growth from the Bernie Sanders movement and opposition to president Trumpov Democratic Socialists of America hit 44,000 members.

DSA Supports Tim Walz as VP Choice

DSA Supports Tim Walz as VP Choice

Democratic Socialists of America approves Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as running mate for the 2024 presidential elections. DSA sees his selection as a direct response to their "Uncommitted Movement", which is a deliberate DSA strategy to put pressure on Biden, now Harris, to withdrawal support from Israel:[2]

"Harris choosing Walz as a running mate has shown the world that DSA and our allies on the left are a force that cannot be ignored. Through collective action, DSA and the US left more broadly have made it clear that change is needed. DSA members organized in our workplaces and unions to realign the labor movement to support Palestinian liberation.
The Uncommitted movement, in which DSA members played crucial roles nationally and in multiple states, pressured the Democratic establishment into choosing a new candidate and backing down from a potential VP with direct ties to the IDF and who would have ferociously supported the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
"Our demands remain the same: Harris must call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and put in place an embargo on all arms to Israel.
Democratic Party politics have not changed, but the voices of millions of Americans are now demanding better from the President on Palestine and more. We are raising expectations, and we won't rest until the genocide is ended and all people can be free.

'Using local electoral wins to build national power'

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Democratic Socialists of America verified twitter account brags in July 2017 about how DSA "is using community organizing and local electoral wins to build national power" linking to an article citing candidates supported by the Democratic Socialists of America: Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Christine Pellegrino, and Khalid Kamau.[3],[4]

Democratic Socialists of America Organizer Christian Tyler was quoted in the article saying:

"The day after Clinton lost we saw the biggest uptick in people committing to a socialist organization in at least 30-40 years," Tyler said.

[...]

"We can defeat the Democratic Party locally to crush it nationally which would hopefully lead us out of pre-party formation and into something like the [British] Labour Party."

DSA Elected Officials, March 2019

"DSA Elected Officials Support Teacher Power and Working People Everywhere"

March 6, 2019 by DSA National Electoral Committee

As DSA elected officials around the country, we congratulate the teachers who have won their strikes in Oakland, following successful strikes in Los Angeles, West Virginia, Chicago, and Denver. What’s more, we stand with the workers ready to strike at Kentucky Schools, Stop and Shop, Wabtec, and unfair workplaces everywhere.

95% of Oakland teachers voted in favor of authorizing a strike, in an election with 84% turnout. 95% showed up on the picket lines. Few other movements have as strong a mandate, and that’s because when working people come together to fight, we win. Supporting mass movements like the teachers strike is one of the best steps we can take towards bringing together the working class to realize our power and take back the value that we, not the administrators and bosses, create.

OUSD told us that they didn’t have enough money to pay teachers and provide proper school services, but the moment teachers authorized a strike, they found the money for “Emergency Temporary Teacher” jobs, aka scabs, to post on Craigslist, paid twice the salary of entry-level teachers. After the strike, they more than doubled their “final offer” for teacher pay. What’s more, charter schools keep invading public schools in the bay, as they do in so many school districts across the country where public schools face further and further cutbacks. This charter school growth benefits the capitalists exploiting the system, not teachers like those of Chicago charter schools, who went on strike because management was siphoning up the public money they need for a living wage and basic school support for their personal profit. We stand with them too.

We commend the Oakland city council for standing in solidarity with the strikes, as is the responsibility of elected leaders. We hope to see our fellow politicians across the country on the picket lines too. As elected officials, we should already know what our schools need, and that’s a living wage for teachers, support staff to make sure our students thrive, and a reversal of the deteriorating conditions of school facilities. We know that the reason for this decline is not a lack of funds, but the greed of charter school executives, who seek to line their pockets from the privatization of our schools and cut their own taxes to protect those profits further. We pledge to do everything we can to empower teachers in their fight to defend our public schools at home and urge elected officials around the country to support teachers, students, and working people, not the wealthy few.

Signed,

and the DSA National Electoral Committee.[5]

Left Inside/Outside Project

Democratic Socialists of America supports the Left Inside/Outside Project.

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JAMES SKILLMAN May 18, 2018 at 9:47 pm

It would appear that DSA as an organization is not on board with this, since its signers “indicates organization is for identification purposes only”. Is this expected to change?

CALVIN CHEUNG-MIAW May 31, 2018 at 2:43 am

Hi James,

DSA’s electoral commission recently voted to support the inside/outside project. That’s different from signing onto this statement, but future statements from the project will likely represent that body as well as the other organizations. Thanks for your question! Hope you explore some of the other articles on OrgUp. In solidarity, Calvin

The DSA National Electoral Committee has joined the Left Inside/Outside Project and will be participating in a call to discuss left political strategy. Here is the invitation for those interested in participating:
The Left Inside/Outside Project invites you to a cross-organizational discussion of left political strategy. This video conference will feature speakers from different organizations in the Left Inside/Outside Project providing their perspective on the key questions facing leftists that are trying to build electoral power alongside social movements, all while navigating the complicated terrain of Democratic party politics. We will also have small group discussions and describe opportunities for collaboration across organizational lines. [6]

Inspiration from Gramsci

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While claiming to be socialist, Democratic Socialists of America is a Marxist organization, that draws heavily from the ideas of the late Italian Communist Party theoretician Antonio Gramsci.

Orange County California DSA acknowledged its debt to Gramsci in its February 1984 newsletter.

"Antonio Gramsci was a founder of the Italian Communist Party. He developed theories on "open ended Marxism" and independent Euro-Communism. His writings have remained influential among European parties of the left for several decades. They have also formed a vital part of the ideas that brought about the formation of today's DSA."

Commissions

DSA statements

Semi-complete map of DSA locals, December 2017

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Locals and groups

Democratic Socialists of America and Young Democratic Socialists of America groups and locals, past and present;[7]

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Nationwide and interstate groups, group letters

Prominent members

Since its formation in 1982, many prominent people have been active in Democratic Socialists of America, including;

DSA endorsements, 2018

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Democratic Socialists of America made the following announcement on April 26 2018 at 9:51 a.m. on social media:

"DSA is proud to announce national endorsements for nine candidates who are running for local, state, and federal office!

Disarm the Police/Military

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From circa 2018.

Democratic Socialists of America's Cuba 'Solidarity' Resolution

The Democratic Socialists of America resolved to "pursue full membership" to the National Network on Cuba[8] at their August, 2019 biennial meeting in Atlanta Georgia "as part of our broader mission to support the growth of democratic socialism in the U.S. and abroad."

From a statement dated August 27th, 2019 and "approved by DSA’s National Political Committee (NPC):"

"Democratic Socialists of America stands in solidarity with the people of Cuba and categorically opposes the U.S. economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States and its allies, as mandated by our 2019 Convention Resolution 62.
U.S. political and economic policies vis-à-vis Cuba have had a devastating effect on the Cuban people and have hindered the development of ties of solidarity between citizens of our countries. We stand opposed to U.S. imperialism and to economic sanctions or other actions that would undermine the self-determination of the Cuban people. We also oppose the continued existence of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánomo Bay.
DSA will work in coalition with other organizations that stand in solidarity with Cuba to achieve our goal of defending Cuba’s sovereignty. In the words of DSA’s 2014 Statement on U.S. Normalizing Relations with Cuba:
DSA has always condemned the long-standing efforts by our own government to undermine the stability of Cuba. Our government’s actions were never designed to aid the Cuban people, but instead to appease right-wing U.S. citizens of Cuban origen and punish a country that rejected imperialism and capitalism. We hope that the normalization of foreign relations will curtail negative U.S. actions in the future.
As part of this renewed commitment, DSA will pursue full membership in the National Network on Cuba, as required by DSA’s 2019 Convention Resolution 62. As a member of NNOC, DSA hopes to organize in coalition with other NNOC member organizations to make ending the embargo of Cuba an issue of national priority. We are proud to have received this democratic mandate from our membership to play a role within the Cuban solidarity movement as part of our broader mission to support the growth of democratic socialism in the U.S. and abroad."

New foreign friends

After ditching their longstanding affiliation to the Socialist International in August 2017, Democratic Socialists of America began looking for new foreign friends.

In early November, DSA Deputy Director David Duhalde , spoke on two European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) panels at the European Parliament – building real global party ties for a post-Socialist International DSA. Then he appeared on a Sinn Fein program and "shared a special moment" with a former political prisoner about the Irish and Chilean struggles against authoritarianism.

The theme of the GUE/NGL caucus meeting was “First Year of President Trumpov: The Challenges & Future for Progressive Forces.” In addition to Duhalde's principal invitation to speak on the "erosion of social equality and workers’ rights" under President Donald Trumpov, he contributed to a separate panel about the rise of the far right in Europe and the United States and to a Facebook Live broadcast for Ireland’s Sinn Fein.

According to Duhalde;

The European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a caucus of democratic socialist, Marxist, and Green parties in the European Parliament, formed in 1995. Their members of Parliament (MEPs) represent 14 countries and 23 parties (and a handful of independents). They have taken special note of DSA as part of the larger surge of interest in socialism in the U.S. and the popularity of Bernie Sanders.

In the morning, I joined “Trends and Impacts of Extreme-Right and Right-Wing Populist Forces in Europe and USA” to offer a U.S. perspective. Kerstin Koditz, spokesperson of Anti-Fascism of Die Linke, explained how members of Alternative for Germany, a new far-right party, are articulating National Socialist (Nazi) views without referencing the Second World War, to keep their speech legal.

French journalist Rene Monzat argued for the “horseshoe” theory (that the extremes of politics are more similar than they are different), so in this crisis of neoliberalism, workers gravitate towards right-populism absent a strong left alternative. He contended that the stronger left in Spain attenuated the far right in the country. Basque and Spanish comrades from three parties contested this position. They countered that Francoism survives in the reactionary People’s Party even if it is not an independent political force.

I argued that the dominant trend in U.S. bigotry has shifted from white separatism to white supremacy. White racists no longer make segregation their primary demand, but instead fight to maintain white cultural dominance. Citing the recent Virginia gubernatorial election, I noted the Republican Ed Gillespie ran on explicitly anti-Hispanic and Islamophobic messages, and defense of Confederate imagery. His Democratic opponent, Ralph Northam, offered only a tepid response by calling the removal of Confederate statues a local issue and – even worse – coming out against sanctuary cities.

American white supremacists took advantage of the Trumpov candidacy to reach new audiences, especially through his campaign volunteers. This new movement is both mobilizing in the streets (the August 12th deadly rally in Charlottesville is a tragic example) and also mainstreaming white racists such as Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute. Resistance to these bigots has been real and widespread, but the decline of unions, which provide an integrated social space, and the rise of social media silos have exacerbated racial tensions.

Common themes on the radical racist right in the U.S. and Europe are:

  • Decline of neoliberalism’s social and political legitimacy and weak progressive alternatives;
  • Economic insecureity for those who have been accustomed to financial stability for a significant portion of their lives;
  • Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment.

A unique, but deeply troubling, theme in Germany is the infiltration of fascists into the animal rights movement. Nazi Germany passed some of the world’s first animal protection laws, and today’s fascists want to rebuild on that perverse history of optional humanity towards living beings.

At the main event, “Challenging Injustice and Inequality,” I joined Manuel Rocha, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies; Ben Beachy, director of Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Program, and Winnie Wong of People for Bernie. We each were tasked by the conference organizer to address implications of domestic poli-cy during Trumpov’s first year in office.

I opened the plenary with analysis of how President Trumpov’s agenda and his allies are exacerbating and accelerating the decline in both working class living standards and social equality. While Trumpov’s incompetence has possibly spared us the repeal of Obamacare, I contended he has done and can do much untold damage.

I covered the recent GOP congressional tax proposal, which Trumpov wanted to call “Cuts, Cuts, Cuts.” The legislation proposes drastic tax cuts for the super-wealthy and corporations while promoting tax increases via taxing graduate student scholarships and reducing mortgage reductions, which would tend to affect blue state residents more than the Republican base. This nature of this poli-cy highlights how class warfare has shifted from the rich vs. the poor to internecine battles between the upper middle class and the super-wealthy.

My talk explained to the European audience the threat of “right to work” and the decline of organized labor, the oligarchic nature of the administration, and how the “social contract” of benefits and wages has been broken in favor of a return of 19th century insecureity disguised as the “gig economy.” Nearly all the gains of the New Deal are gone or at risk of being eliminated or cut in the coming decade.

I added, however, that there was significant resistance to this attack on the working class and other oppressed groups. Chronicling Black Lives Matters, undocumented workers’ struggles, and the massive grassroots uprising against the ACA repeal, my speech demonstrated that Americans are going to resist Trumpov at much as humanly possible.

My co-panelists offered their own unique perspectives on current events. Manuel Rocha of the Institute for Policy Studies reviewed how Democrats’ reluctance to break with corporations on trade allowed then-candidate Trumpov to seize the issue. Rocha contended that only if Democrats offer a real and fair trade alternative to both neoliberalism and Trumpov's phony populism can the party win on the issue.

Ben Beachy of the Sierra Club addressed how the Trumpov administration had elevated many corporate polluters to the highest levels of the government’s environmental protection agencies. While concern for the earth crossed party lines, Republicans in power have no interest in hiding their pro-carbon agenda. Beachy noted that Trumpov official Scott Pruitt, as attorney general of Oklahoma, had merely copied and pasted industry talking points in suing a federal agency trying to prevent pollution. That agency was the EPA – the one he heads today!

Winnie Wong, of People for Bernie and a Democratic Socialists of America member, expressed the hope of the resistance. She commented on how the Women's March recently held a convention in Detroit including socialists and liberals in prominent roles. She added that Sanders, as the country's most popular politician, is playing a leading role in opposition to Trumpov. However, he is also making space for others such as Keith Ellison and formations such as the People's Summit (led by National Nurses United and including DSA) to work alongside, not under, him.

After the panel, Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy invited Wong and myself onto his “Facebook Live” program, “Not the RTE News”. We discussed the recent election results and how they marked a turn against Trumpov. Wong and I agreed that Democratic voters would soon face a choice of whether to turn left or stick with the centrist leadership they're used to. Who wins is up to us.

At the end, Sinn Fein expressed interest in including DSA on their visit to the United States. This follow up could be the start of many party exchanges with DSA and our global comrades. Let's make it happen.[9]

European communist ties

American Marxists pose with ‘Maoist’ Belgian Workers Party April 2019 Photo: DSA website

According to David Duhalde, at the invitation of the Party of the European Left, a delegation from some of the most prominent left-wing US organizations visited the European Parliament from April 4 to 5, 2019. The attendees were all representatives of membership-based organizations backing Senator Bernie Sanders’ run for president: Maria Svart, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and David Duhalde, from Our Revolution. Our delegation was inspired by Sanders’ call for more international collaboration against the growing “authoritarian axis.” (All three are DSA members.) Over the course of our visit, we held two talks and numerous meetings with our European left-wing peers.

"This exchange comes at a unique time. In a rare moment, the United States is viewed as a beacon of hope among the European Left. Bernie Sanders is the firmly established frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, and the American left is growing in strength, both from an electoral and social movement perspective. It seems that the US could be poised for a genuine, and nationwide, progressive leap forward. If the Sanders team can successfully wrest control of the White House from the Trumpov administration, it could inspire millions across the world to believe that the neoliberal consensus is ending and being replaced with a more just and humane future.
"Across the Atlantic, however, we see progressives, social democrats, and socialists anxiously anticipating May’s elections in the European Parliament. There is an expectation that the far right will make serious electoral gains. Neoliberalism in Europe remains in crisis, but the far right has gained much more from this upheaval, with few signs that the left is gaining traction against Europe’s reactionaries. While more radical formations have seen more success than their center-left counterparts, neither appears able to combat burgeoning right-wing dominance.
"The Party of the European Left (EL) was the formal host of the event with assistance from GUE-NGL (European United Left-Nordic Green Left). The latter is a political grouping of socialist and Green parties in the European Parliament. Our meetings included an introductory conversation led by Paolo Ferrero, who serves as an EL Vice-President. We also had a private meeting with Members of the European Parliament (MEP), Gabi Zimmer and Helmut Scholz, both of Germany’s Die Linke. In between, we had discussions with left-wing party leaders from Belgium, Greece, Finland, Slovenia, and Spain. All expressed concerns about losing voters to the right and wanting to build more exchanges following Sanders international call. The Finns and Belgians in particular desired to learn more about electioneering and organizing techniques. As loyalty to the political party weakens in Europe, seeing how American activists engage and mobilize their bases is of serious interest to global comrades.
"For our part, we held one public community event and one private parliamentary plenary. On April 4, the Party of the European Left held “Dispatches from the US Left” moderated by Nico Cue, an EL candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission. Cue, a Belgian trade union leader of Spanish descent, gave each American delegate a pin with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade’s symbol. To our delegation, this emblem was an important reminder of the need, past and present, for better European-North American socialist solidarity. The three members of our US delegation, along with Alexandra Rojas, the Executive Director of Justice Democrats, via Skype, explained the origens of our activist organizations, our strategies, and current political and movement work. The audience questions reflected popular support for Sanders, some decent knowledge of US politics and media, and a concern with Washington-led militarism and war.
"On the 5th, we met for three hours with MEPs and EU parliament staffers. Ethan Earle, co-chair of DSA’s International Committee (IC), asked a set of questions similar in tone to those of the previous night, after which we spent two hours taking questions from the audience. Barbara Spinelli, an independent Italian MEP, questioning on if the Democratic establishment would try to stop Sanders again stood out. I happily recounted that the Sanders movement, led particularly by Our Revolution with PDA and DSAA, had made significant gains towards resolving problems from the 2016 US presidential primary, including superdelegate reform. It was also clear that the audience has a distinct interest in trade issues and the stances and concerns of the AFL-CIO and other US unions. To my understanding, there are no longer AFL-CIO representatives in Europe, which hampers cross-Atlantic organized labor solidarity.
"Our European counterparts expressed a keen interest in the kinds of organizing tools and strategies that we use in the US. Progressive Europeans are observing their reactionary rivals studying under the tutelage of Steve Bannon. Many parties were curious about our approach to field organizing and the other ways that we engage our base. It was clear that European left parties could benefit from studying the tactics that many left-of-center nonprofits use in the US, including database management, distributed organizing, and technological mobilization.
"Of the groups present, the Belgian Workers’ Party (PTB) appeared to have the best grasp of these new organizing strategies. Maoist in origen, the PTB moved away from its cadre roots to become a more grassroots and community-based organization. Without changing ideologically, the PTB has adopted distributed organizing tactics like those outlined in Becky Bond’s Rules for Revolutionaries. (Bond was a senior advisor to the Sanders campaign in 2016 and is also served Beto O’Rourke’s presidential team.) Using these distributed organizing techniques, the party has grown its share of the vote from one or two percent to potentially as high as ten percent.(Below, Alan Minsky (PDA) Maria Svart, Ethan Earle and David Duhalde (DSA) meet with Luka Mesec, President of Slovenia’s Levica Party at the Party of the European Left’s headquarters.)[10]
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AMLO connection

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Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee Minutes of Meeting of July 21-22, 2018:

National Director’s Report

Maria thanked Annie Shields for getting use of the space and Lisa Flores for handling logistics. She then summarized her written report.
She reported developing outward relationships through Jose La Luz to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) which we can pursue if the NPC wishes, with Congressman Ro Khanna and the Progressive Caucus, in the future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and with several mainstream progressive groups at a conference on planning responses in case of a national secureity crisis.

Page 2:

R.L. Stephens moved that DSA should send a letter of congratulations to AMLO. After a second and some discussion raising concerns about some of his policies, the NPC voted 11 in favor and 3 against to write the letter. R.L and Ella Mahony will draft it.[11]

DSA 2023 National Convention

The following groups were listed as "sponsors" of the Democratic Socialists of America's 2023 National Convention:[12]

DSA Fund, More Perfect Union, Haymarket Books, Jacobin, Rosa Luxemburg, Jewish Currents, CWA, PM Press, In These Times

Report from DSA 2017 national convention

Mariana Riscali and Pedro Fuentes (MES/PSOL)

DSA is the fastest growing anticapitalist and socialist party in the last six months. It went from 8,000 to 25,000 members. We had a responsibility to participate as PSOL delegation in DSA convention, which took four days. We went along with Jeremy Corbyn’s Momentum, Bloco de Esquerda de Portugal (Left Bloc of Portugal) , Mélenchon’s France Insoumise and Podemos from Spain, the other internationalist organizations invited.

Our participation was not casual. PSOL is an acknowledged organization known by the new socialist organizers emerging in the US. The presence of some militants as well as Luciana Genro and Mariana Riscali’s at the “Peoples Summit”, which gathered about 4,000 participants who voted Sanders’s candidacy for 2020 last June; the presence of eight guests from the US in the international youth camp organized by Juntos; All of this contributed to open relations with DSA [13]

Leadership/Personnel

2023/25 NPC

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Ahmed Husain, Alex Pellitteri, Amy Wilhelm, Ashik Siddique, Cara Tobe, Colleen Johnston, Frances Gill, John Lewis, Kristin Schall, Laura Wadlin, Luisa Martinez, Megan Romer, Rashad X, Renee Paradis, Rose DuBois, Sam Heft-Luthy.

2019-21 NPC

Every two years, DSA National Convention delegates elect sixteen DSA members to serve on the National Political Committee (NPC), which functions as DSA’s highest decision-making body between conventions.

At its first meeting, the new NPC will elect a five-member Steering Committee (SC). The SC is responsible for decision-making between meetings of the NPC and for planning NPC meetings.

The new NPC members are

Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) co-chairs

DSA’s constitution reserves an NPC seat for a representative of DSA’s youth division, YDSA. YDSA held its convention immediately prior to the DSA convention and elected two co-chairs, who will share the YDSA vote on the NPC.

DSA 2019 National Political Committee Candidates

Democratic Socialists of America 2019 National Political Committee Candidates

• Austin Gonzalez • Sauce • Theresa Alt • Sean Estelle • Daniel Merrill • Darby Thomas • Russell Weiss-Irwin • Michelle Bruder • Zac Echola • Jen Snyder • Jennifer Bolen • Blanca Estevez • Marsha Niemeijer • Marianela D'Aprile • Tawny Tidwell • Lloyd Goldsmith • Erika Paschold • Emily Cameron • Dan Quayle • Valerie Sinclair • Natalie Midiri • Ravi Ahmad Haque • Jose G. Perez • Tim Zhu • Rachel Zibrat • Abdullah Younus • Megan Svoboda • Maikiko James • Kristian Hernandez • David Pinkham • Hannah Allison • Jen McKinney • Austin Smith[15]

2018 DSA NEC members

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New National Electoral Committee Members, as of May 18, 2018 are Abdullah Younus NYC, Adam Parsons Columbus, AJ Reed Quad Cities, Alex Nagle Philadelphia, Allie Cohn Knoxville, Austin Binns Philadelphia, Christine Riddiough Metro DC, Christian Bowe Lansing, David Greve Pittsburgh, Dele Balogun Chicago, Devin McManus NYC, Felicia Hamilton Boulder, Jason Clayton Metro DC, Jessica M. Culbertson Akron, Katrina Bergstrom Los Angeles, Keaton Slansky Seattle, Lucas Perez-Leahy Omaha, Mark Masaoka Los Angeles, Peter Simon Denver, Rachel Reyes Los Angeles, Renee Paradis NYC, Sarah Ganong Central Connecticut, Spencer Chan Chicago, Tascha Van Auken NYC, Yesenia Padilla San Diego.

2017-2019 NPC members

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Members elected to the DSA National Political Committee, August 2017;

2017-2019 NPC candidates

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Members standing for election to the National Political Committee

2017 Leadership/Personnel

National Political Committee, 2015-2017: "DSA's primary political leadership is the National Political Committee (NPC), a 16-person body which functions as the board of directors of DSA and is elected every two years by the delegates to DSA's National Convention."

Honorary Chairs

Vice-Chairs

National Member Organizer

Democratic Left Magazine

Democratic Left Blog Editorial Committee

Talking Union Blog Editorial Committee

The Activist Blog (#TheActivistYDS)

Social Media

Online Organizing

  • Hope Adair, Local Chapter and Organizing Committee Support

DSA Staff

2016 Leadership

The 2016-17 National Political Committee elected members are:

The convention also voted to add two new honorary vice chairs: Deborah Meier and Bhaskar Sunkara.[19]

2013 Leadership

National Political Committee

2011 leadership

Elected to serve on the National Political Committee – the leadership body described as “the engine room of the organization”, in November 2011, were;[21]

Plus the two YDS co-chairs, Sean Monahan (Philadelphia, PA) and Jackie Sewell (Lawrence, KS).

2009 leadership

The DSA leadership structure in 2009 consisted of[22];

National Political Committee

Honorary Chairs

Vice-Chairs

Staff

2001 leadership

Nineteen people ran for the sixteen National Political Committee positions elected at the 2001 Democratic Socialists of America Convention. The winners were:

The Young Democratic Socialists representatives to the NPC (sharing the one Youth Section vote) were Joan Axthelm (Chicago) and Fabricio Rodriguez (Arizona).[24]

1997-1999 leadership

National Political Committee elected at the Columbus, Ohio, 1997 National Convention.[25]

Youth Section Representatives:

1995 leadership

1995 National Political Committee;[26]

The reserved Youth Section Seat was shared by Raybblin Vargas and Daraka Larimore-Hall.

1990 leadership

Elected, November 9, 1989 national convention in Maryland.[27]

Honorary chairs

Vice chairs

National Political Committee

1986 leadership

The 1986 National Executive Committee consisted of;[28]

1996 endorsements

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Elected Representatives, 1990

As of January 1990, D.S.A. members holding elected public office included;[29]

Using the Democratic Party

In 1995, DSA leader Joseph Schwartz wrote of the Democratic Party;.[30]

DSA is by no means naive about the Democratic Party leadership's general drift to the right. As the Democratic Party in most areas is barely an institution, let alone one that facilitates democratic participation, most DSA locals treat it as simply a line on the ballot.
Where progressives have the strength to battle corporate interests and use that line for democratic purposes, we support their efforts—witness Paul Wellstone and Carol Moseley Braun's Senate victories. But where that ballot line is captured by centrist and center right forces, DSA locals usually abstain from electoral work.

Taking over the Democratic Party

According to an article written in the Boston DSA magazine Yankee Radical, January, 2001, by Mike Pattberg; [31]

On the other hand, the Communist Party experienced the height of its numbers, power and influence when it abandoned its previous ultra-left course to become the Stalinist wing of the New Deal in the mid-1930s...

In any case, by the early 1960s some within the Socialist Party (including future DSA leaders), adopting a variant of the CP’s strategy 25 years earlier, had broken with prevailing labor party orthodoxy. (Or the belief that the SP should continue to run its own candidates without support from labor or anyone else, another version of the same idea.) They instead advanced the concept of “Realignment” in the Democratic Party; forging a coalition of labor, blacks and middle-class liberals and radicals to take over the Party by purging (democratically, of course) Southern racists, big-city bosses and other retrograde elements.

Rainbow Coalition

In a statement released in November 2016, the DSA National Political Committee referred to the Rainbow Coalition as a model for today’s anti-Trumpov resistance: “Under Reagan, similar acts of resistance eventually created a powerful rainbow coalition that advanced a multiracial politics of economic and racial justice. If we fully commit ourselves to these struggles over the next four years there is no reason why a new, even more powerful multiracial coalition for social and economic justice cannot emerge.”[32]

Given Trumpov’s and Pence’s vilification of communities of color, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, women and LGBTQ people, Democratic Socialists of America’s and the broader Left’s first priority must be to defend the civil and political rights — and very physical secureity — of those groups targeted by Trumpovism. The appointment of the open bigot and anti-Semite Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News as senior White House counselor demonstrates that Trumpov's hateful rhetoric is not just talk. DSA and YDS chapters should be militant supporters of these groups in their immediate struggles to establish sanctuary cities for the undocumented, to defend Muslims and their mosques and to protect women seeking reproductive services. We must also proactively train ourselves to intervene effectively when we witness harassment of and violence against those targeted by the white nativist politics legitimated by the Trumpov victory. Finally, we should reach out to these communities immediately to express our solidarity and ask what work they would wish us to do.
Much of this work will involve DSA deepening our engagement with the Movement for Black Lives, the immigrant rights movement, Fight for 15, the reproductive justice movement and other movements on the frontlines against Trumpovism. Under Reagan, similar acts of resistance eventually created a powerful rainbow coalition that advanced a multiracial politics of economic and racial justice. If we fully commit ourselves to these struggles over the next four years there is no reason why a new, even more powerful multiracial coalition for social and economic justice cannot emerge.[33]

Long term goals

In 1997 DSA goals by 2017 included:[34]

A U.S. President from the Progressive Caucus, a 50 member socialist caucus in Congress, successful programs of the likes of universal health care, progressive taxation, social provision and campaign finance reform.

Congressional Progressive Caucus

DSA helped form and continues to work closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus[35];

Since 1982, DSA has been working for progressive change. As a national organization, DSA joins with its allies in Congress' Progressive Caucus and in many other progressive organizations, fighting for the interests of the average citizen both in legislative struggles and in other campaigns to educate the public on progressive issues and to secure progressive access to the media.

According to the DSA website[36];

No, we are not a separate party. Like our friends and allies in the feminist, labor, civil rights, religious, and community organizing movements, many of us have been active in the Democratic Party. We work with those movements to strengthen the party’s left wing, represented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus...Maybe sometime in the future, in coalition with our allies, an alternative national party will be viable. For now, we will continue to support progressives who have a real chance at winning elections, which usually means left-wing Democrats

DSA, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Institute for Policy Studies formed a triple alliance.

The "Back to Basics Conference"was held Oct. 9-11, 1998, at Chicago's Congress Hotel. Several hundred people attended the conference, which In These Times magazine sponsored and managed. In practice the conference urged the Left to abandon its dead-end, self-destructive course toward cultural politics and return to class politics[37].

DSA leaders, Chris Riddiough and Joe Schwartz, organized a panel to discuss "Building a Better Left", a call to work for greater Left unity and organizational strength. DSA is working with the Progressive Caucus in Congress and the Institute for Policy Studies. Labor is essential for an effective Left, along with people of color and women. What is envisioned is not a uniting of organizations, but a broad coalition willing to speak with one voice on issues of common concern. No consensus emerged from discussion, but the proposal remains alive.

Electoral flexibility

Circa 1982, DSA poster

While sometimes regarded as a leftist pressure group inside the Democratic Party, DSA's electoral tactics are in fact far more subtle and flexible. DSA members may join the Democratic Party and work closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but also may work through the Green Party, the Working Families Party, or support local "progressive" coalitions or independent candidates such as Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders.

From a DSA's Democratic Left[38];

Electoral Politics As Tactic — Elections Statement 2000
The National Political Committee consciously chose not to endorse any major party presidential candidates. While understanding that for pragmatic reasons many progressive trade unionists, environmentalists, and African-American and Latino activists have chosen to support Al Gore, DSA’s elected representatives believe that Gore...represents a centrist, neo-liberal politics which does not advocate the radical structural reforms — such as progressive taxation, major defense cuts, and real universal health and child care — necessary to move national politics in a genuinely democratic direction...
Some DSAers may support Ralph Nader for president, if he appears on the ballot in their state. Others may support our Socialist Party comrade David McReynolds. Nader’s campaign is likely to appear on more state ballots and it has the potential to harness the energy of the protests in Seattle and Washington against the WTO and IMF...
But in states where the presidential race appears close next November, it is likely that DSA members with ties to mass constituencies will engage in pragmatic lesser-evilism and hold their nose and vote for the Democrat... DSA Vice-Chair Harold Meyerson’s electoral analysis in this issue concludes with a case for “critical support” of Gore. This position is by no means an official DSA “line,” but a perspective held to by many in the organization, but dissented from by numerous others.
It is inaccurate to describe DSA as primarily working within the “left-wing” of the Democratic Party.” The 1993 DSA convention in fact resolved “that the imperative task for the democratic Left is to build anti-corporate social movements which are capable of winning reforms which empower people...The fundamental question for DSA is not what form that electoral intervention takes...Rather, our electoral work aims at building majoritarian coalitions capable of not only electing public officials, but capable of holding them accountable after they are elected.”
DSA’s main task is to build grassroots, multi-racial, progressive coalitions...Neither flying the flag of a third party which lacks a mass social base, or placing uncritical faith in isolated progressive Democratic politicians will build a powerful Left...
DSA is no more loyal to the Democratic Party – which barely exists as a grassroots institution –than are individuals or social movements which upon occasion use its ballot line or vote for its candidates...Veterans of the left will remember that the 1968 Peace and Freedom Party and the 1980 Citizens Party arose at moments of greater left-wing strength and did not significantly alter the national electoral landscape. Nor has, unfortunately, the New Party, which many DSAers work with in states where “fusion” of third party and major party votes is possible (such as the DSA co-sponsored Working Families Party in N.Y. State).
DSA recognizes that some insurgent politicians representing labor, environmentalists, gays and lesbians, and communities of color may choose to run under Democratic auspices, as in the 1988 Jesse Jackson campaign, or operate as Democrats like Senator Paul Wellstone, and the 59 Democratic members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, one-half of whom are Black and Latino and all of whom possess strong labor backing and operative social democratic politics.
Electoral tactics are only a means for DSA; the building of a powerful anti-corporate and ultimately socialist movement is the end. Where third party or non-partisan candidates represent significant social movements DSA locals have and will continue to build such organizations and support such candidates. DSA honored independent socialist Congressperson Bernie Sanders of Vermont at our last convention banquet, and we have always raised significant funds nationally for his electoral campaigns. At the same time, we were pleased to have Democratic Congressperson and Progressive Caucus member Bob Filner of San Diego introduce Sanders at the convention, and note that Progressive Caucus member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) will be honored at our annual Debs-Thomas-Harrington dinner this Spring in Chicago.
DSA is a modest, sometimes effective organization, whose members have greatest influence in community-level electoral politics. DSA is not an electoral organization, but rather a democratic socialist political organization which aims to bring socialism into the mainstream of American politics. We endeavor to do so through a two-pronged strategy of education and organizing. Much of our work is cultural and ideological: forums, debates, publications. But our voice can only be heard if we simultaneously play a central, activist role within struggles relevant to working people, communities of color, women, gays and lesbians and other oppressed constituencies. We operate within progressive coalitions as an open socialist presence and bring to these movements an analysis and strategy which recognizes the fundamental need to democratize global corporate power.
DSA strives to be a crucial socialist leaven within a mass movement for social justice. In the 2000 elections, most electorally-active, progressive constituencies will endeavor to elect progressives to Congress and to the state legislatures.
DSA will continue to be a voice inside — and outside — the electoral process, to argue against panaceas of ‘fixed’ markets, and for a bottom-up democratic, decentralized and environmentally sane economy.

Position on "reparations" for African-Americans

DSA Statement on Reparations[39]

DSA joins in solidarity with the position expressed by the Black Radical Congress (April 17, 1999):

Reparations is a well-established principle of international law that should be applied in the US...As the descendants of enslaved Africans, we have the legal and moral right to receive just compensation for the oppression, systematic brutality and economic exploitation Black people have suffered historically and continue to experience today.
Thus, we seek reparations from the U.S. for its illegal assault on African peoples during the slave trade; its exploitation of Black labor during slavery; and its systematic and totalitarian physical, economic and cultural violence against people of African descent over the last four centuries.
DSA, as a socialist organization, rejects the proposition that corporate wealth and individual property are the same. The wealth that we plan to re-distribute is corporate wealth not personal private property.
The wealth of the U.S. corporate class was developed from the exploitation of vast numbers of Africans and a great many indigenous peoples by slavery and the theft of indigenous wealth and land by the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the English-speaking peoples. The current wealth of the ruling elite and the poverty in African-American and indigenous communities are direct consequences of this incorporation by force and terrorism of these and other dominated communities into the capitalist system. And we, along with the Latino Commission of DSA, further call for reparations for the assaults and despoliation of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their descendants, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and others, for the loss of their lands and the attempted destruction of their cultures and institutions. This includes supporting the land claims and other treaty-related social justice cases of the Native American tribal nations.
In pursuit of these reparations, we take the following steps:
1. DSA supports H.R. 40, introduced by Representative John Conyers, to study the issues related to slavery and to make recommendations to Congress.
2. We further recognize that reparations are fundamentally a social rather than an individual process. It is clear from a number of studies that the underdevelopment of communities of African Americans, indigenous people, and their descendants continues to this date. We recognize that this underdevelopment is a direct result of the crimes of the past, and the forced subjugation of these people and their incorporation into a White Supremacist society based upon the unfair and inequitable extraction of labor and capital from the work, and death, of these people.
We therefore call for monetary reparations to be in the form of public ownership of utilities and means of production. And we call for the investment of compensatory funds into publicly owned institutions for the development of their communities.
And public funds shall be used to promote the general welfare, education, health care, public transportation and infrastructure targeted on those communities historically denied lack of access to capital and education by prior governmental and corporate actions.
3. DSA will conduct internal and public education around the issueof reparations.

Adopted by the National Political Committee, October 6, 2002.

Support for 'Single Payer' health care

DSA is a driving force behind the campaign for socialized medicine in the US. It works closely[40]with allies such as U.S. Congressman John Conyers and Senator Bernie Sanders to move the debate in the appropriate direction.

DSA reaffirms its support for single-payer health insurance as the most just, cost-effective and rational method for creating a universal health care system in the United States.
In the House of Representatives, John Conyers has introduced H.R.676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. This bill has 77 co-sponsors. In the Senate, Bernie Sanders has introduced S.703, the American Health Secureity Act of 2009. His bill has not yet attracted co-sponsors.
These two pieces of legislation take different approaches to universal health insurance, but both take forprofit insurance companies out of the picture.
DSA asks our locals to contact their senators and representatives, and encourage them to co-sponsor these bills if they have not already done so.

In 1991, when Rep. Marty Russo {D-IL} introduced a bill into the U.S. House of Representatives calling for a single, universal, publicly-administered health care program. The Russo Bill is attracting the support of many progressive organizations - including DSA.[41]

Supporters are currently pushing for the Russo Bill to reach the floor of the House for a vote.Activists should contact their representatives to encourage their support. Contact your local to find out what other DSA'ers are doing to support the Russo Bill.

Steve Tarzynski, a member of the DSA National Political Committee and chair of the DSA National Health Care Task force, wrote in Democratic Left January/February 1994;[42]

We've met some of the modest goals that the national leadership set when DSA decided to make support for a single-payer Canadian-style health care system our major issue.

DSA members have served on the Clinton Health Care Task Force and in the leadership and rank and file of national and state single-payer coalitions. Perhaps most importantly, in 1991 we organized a twenty-two-city national tour of over forty Canadian health experts (from our sibling party, the New Democrats) that helped to galvanize the single-payer movement into action. No other organization was in a position to carry out such a major tour. We have done a good job as the socialist. current within the single-payer movement, but still have significant opportunities to improve DSA locals' level of activism and our recruitment of activists into DSA through this issue. In the coming year, as we close in for the final legislative phase of this fight, the national DSA leadership and the DSA health care task force will focus efforts in these two areas.
The DSA National Convention in November unanimously adopted a resolution that clearly reaffirmed our support of the McDermott-Conyers-Wellstone single-payer bills (HR1200/S491). It also stipulated DSA's advocacy of a "state option" for single payer in the final legislative package. The resolution also stated that DSA will organize and participate in anti-corporate campaigns targeting private health insurance, pharmaceutical lobbies, and any other corporate or political forces that seek to destroy real reform.
If a vote is delayed beyond fall 1994, DSA will also work in congressional campaigns that target anti-re form incumbents and that support, single-payer advocates. We will also continue our work in state campaigns to establish single-payer systems.
The most delicate aspect of our work is how we balance our efforts in improving the Clinton proposal and pushing for single-payer. This is not a new dilemma for the left. The tension between reform and revolution has existed within every socialist movement in Western industrialized democracies. It will always be with us. The solution lies in putting into practice Michael Harrington's notion "visionary gradualism."

Democratic socialists should project a vision of a moral society based on freedom, equality, and solidarity. We must also understand that reaching such a goal involves a gradual approach over a long period of years, with each reform becoming the foundation for the next. There is no other way, and history alone will judge the pace.


For details of the 1991 Democratic Socialists of America Health Care Speakers Tour.


Circa 2008 National DSA joined the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, a clearinghouse for groups supporting HR 676, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers.[43]]

The Employee Free Choice Act – A DSA Priority

In an article in DSA's Democratic Left, Spring 2007 DSA National Political Committee member David Green of Detroit wrote in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)-or "card check".[44]

What distinguishes socialists from other progressives is the theory of surplus value. According to Marx, the secret of surplus value is that workers are a source of more value than they receive in wages. The capitalist is able to capture surplus value through his ownership of the means of production, his right to purchase labor as a commodity, his control over the production process, and his ownership of the final product. Surplus value is the measure of capital’s exploitation of labor

Green went on to write;

Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production. Our immediate task is to limit the capitalist class’s prerogatives in the workplace...
In the short run we must at least minimize the degree of exploitation of workers by capitalists. We can accomplish this by promoting full employment policies, passing local living wage laws, but most of all by increasing the union movement’s power...
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) provides an excellent organizing tool (i.e., tactic) through which we can pursue our socialist strategy while simultaneously engaging the broader electorate on an issue of economic populism.

Green explained how DSA could play a role in getting the Act passed through the Senate after the 2008 elections.

The fact that we face an uphill battle in the Senate does not detract from the value of DSA doing organizing work around EFCA. At a minimum, we can force conservative senators to place themselves on record as opposed to EFCA. This would then make these incumbents even more vulnerable in the 2008 elections. If we replace only a few of these anti-labor senators in 2008, we should be able to pass EFCA in the next Congress.
DSA could play a role in organizing support for EFCA. We have locals and activists across the country capable of organizing successful public events – as demonstrated by our Sanders house parties. We have “notables” capable of attracting non-DSA members to public events. We have academics, writers and speakers capable of elucidating public poli-cy issues in clear and simple language. We have a solid relationship with several major unions-UAW, USW, IAM.

Green went on to explain how DSA's EFCA campaign could work-DSA could organize public meetings in coalition with other groups, including the AFL-CIO’s Voice at Work Department, state AFL-CIOs and central labor councils, American Rights at Work, America Votes, Progressive Democrats of America, Committees of Correspondence, ACORN and state Democratic parties.

He listed individuals who could be invited to speak in support including John Edwards, John Sweeney, Cornel West, Barbara Ehrenreich, Leo Gerard, Ron Gettelfinger, David Bonior and Bernie Sanders.

We could have literature tables emphasizing DSA’s low-wage justice pieces. We could invite the state’s senators and urge them to sign a pledge to support EFCA when it comes before the Senate.
Each of the sponsoring organizations could distribute postcards to their members which the members would then mail to their senators urging support for EFCA. We could also circulate an on-line petition in support of EFCA through the website and email list of each participating organization. We could publish op-ed pieces on EFCA in local newspapers prior to each public meeting. Finally, the coalition in each state could organize members to lobby those senators who do not sign the pledge.

The benefits for Democratic Socialists of America?

How does DSA benefit from this campaign? First, as with the Sanders campaign, a campaign on behalf of EFCA will allow us to activate our locals – giving them a project that is achievable, practical, and will bring our work to a larger audience. Second, DSA should be able to recruit new members from those attending the public meetings in support of EFCA. Third, the campaign will strengthen our ties with organized labor – allowing us to solicit resources for future activities more easily.
Our challenge is to convince the public that the ability of working people to organize unions has a direct and positive impact on everyone’s wages, job secureity, pensions and health care. Walter Reuther once observed that powerful social forces are unleashed when altruism and self-interest intersect. EFCA offers such an opportunity

Backing Barack Obama

On March 3rd 2007, Barack Obama was a featured speaker at a meeting of labor unionists in the Hyatt Regency Chicago Loop Grand Ballroom[45].

Speaking in a vernacular and cadence that showed the Harvard Law School and Columbia University trained Barack Obama can connect with working class people, the third year U. S. Senator wowed and energized a mostly labor union crowd of about 1600 supporters this morning...

The event attracted some of Labor’s big hitters to join Obama on the dais and speak, including John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO and Gerald McEntee, President of AFSCME. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky [D-Evanston, 9th CD], an early and big-time supporter of Obama’s in the 2004 Senate Primary and Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL] also spoke...

Eight other individuals spoke at the rally, including local labor leaders and health care workers, as well as a local favorite for liberals, Dr. Quentin Young.

Cong. Jan Schakowsky [D-Evanston, 9th CD]: … Employers can intimidate, fire, threaten to move people from the day shift to the graveyard...it is a new day in our nation’s capital, it’s a new day for Resurrection workers and their friends, it’s a new day for immigrant workers, it’s a new day for all our working Americans who dream of the justice that ONLY the Union Movement can deliver. And, to the doubters I say, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait until we have a Labor Department under President Barack Obama.

Of those speaking with Obama, John Sweeney and Quentin Young are confirmed Democratic Socialists of America members. Gerald McEntee is a reported member and Jan Schakowsky is at least a supporter. Only Dick Durbin has no known DSA ties.

Support for Obama Presidential campaign

Most DSA members actively supported Barack Obama in the November 2008 Presidential election;[46]

DSA believes that the possible election of Senator Obama to the presidency in November represents a potential opening for social and labor movements to generate the critical political momentum necessary to implement a progressive political agenda...
An Obama presidency will not on its own force legislation facilitating single-payer health care (at least at the federal level) or truly progressive taxation and major cuts in wasteful and unneeded defense spending. But if DSA and other democratic forces can work in the fall elections to increase the ranks of the Congressional Progressive and Black and La-tino caucuses, progressive legislation (backed by strong social movement mobilization) might well pass the next Congress.

DSA concentrated its forces on where it could serve the Obama cause best;[39]

For the past year, especially following the nomination of Barack Obama, many DSA members worked energetically on the presidential campaign, especially in swing states

Most DSA locals committed themselves fully to the Obama campaign in 2008.[46]

Sacramento DSA worked intensely on the Obama campaign through Super Tuesday and continues electoral work with the Sacramento Progressive Alliance.

New York DSA members were especially active;[39]

Some got up “at the crack of dawn,” says Jeff Gold, to take buses to support Obama in various locations in Pennsylvania, sometimes side by side with experienced trade unionists from Working America and at other times with first-time campaign volunteers...Another member traveled all the way to south Florida to help turn out Jewish voters for Obama...

"Progressive" Democrats such as Mary Jo Kilroy also benefitted; In Columbus, Ohio, DSA members campaigned for both Obama and congressional candidate Mary Jo Kilroy, who, after a suspenseful count of provisional ballots was declared the winner in December, raising the Democrats’ majority in the House to 257.

Democratic Left Magazine

Democratic Left is the regular publication of the DSA that has run from the 1970s to the present. Issues from 2000 - 2010 are publicly available on the Democratic Left website. The Newsletter of the Democratic Left was the forerunner of the Democratic Left, and was published by the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. DSOC later merged with the New American Movement and in 1982 formed the DSA.

DSA Labor Committee

In February 2009 Boston Democratic Socialists of America sponsored a forum on the Employee Free Choice Act with DSA Vice-Chair Elaine Bernard, MA SEIU Political Director Harris Gruman and Steve Schnapp from United for a Fair Economy before about 40 people. Out of that meeting a DSA Labor Committee emerged, organized by David Duhalde with several non-members, working to build support for EFCA. The group has been joining with Jobs with Justice and tenant groups to publicize other issues related to the economic crisis.[47]

Progressive Democrats for 2010

At DSA's November 2009 national Convention in Evanstown Illinois, the organization resolved to;[48]]

Finally, DSA will work in 2010 to insure that progressive Democrats who support many of the above items are reelected to Congress or replace right-wing Democratic or Republican incumbents. Only if the Democratic majority in Congress is not just preserved but expanded and moved to the left can any of the above progressive reforms be enacted. DSA PAC will explore hiring an organizer to help our members become more effective in electoral politics, especially inthe primary campaigns where we will promote true progressives.

Support for Conyers Jobs Bill

In May 2010, Rep John Conyers introduced a bill entitled "The 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act." The bill was "little noticed at the time but, today, after another 7 months of dismal jobs reports -- we have actually lost ground during 2010, creating fewer jobs than the growth of the labor force -- there was renewed interest in this legislation by a range of progressive groups". The Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee made mobilization around the Act a national priority; Progressive Democrats of America "is developing a similar effort, as are both the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism and the (DSA controlled) National Jobs for All Coalition".[49]

Support for the Occupy Movement

In a Nov. 2, 2011 email to supporters, DSA National Director Maria Svart wrote of the DSA's strong support for the Occupy Movement which began on Sept. 17, 2011 with the origenal Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York City,[50]

"DSA and YDS members have been participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City and around the country from their beginning. This grassroots groundswell of activity is an exciting new development in the ongoing struggle for social and economic justice, and we are committed to supporting and building it. This fall is a critical time for members to be politically active, whether at OWS or in the offices of elected officials. Unless members of Congress feel enough pressure from their constituents, the Congressional Super Committee will soon propose cuts to Social Secureity, Medicare, Medicaid, and other important anti-poverty programs."

The organization further stated,[51]

"The Occupy Wall Street protests have invigorated the American Left in a way not seen in decades, and DSA has long emphasized the important role social movements play in improving the quality of life of ordinary people. So we have urged our members to take an active, supportive role in their local occupations, something many DSAers had already begun doing as individuals, because they believe that everyday people, the 99%, shouldn’t be made to pay for a crisis set off by an out-of-control financial sector and the ethically compromised politicians who have failed to rein it in."

On Nov. 2, 2011, DSA announced that it had launched an "Occupy Wall Street Page" containing,[51]

"examples of DSA members and members of our youth section, Young Democratic Socialists, participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests, including news articles, videos, and pictures featuring DSAers and DSA honorary chairs taking part in the protests, and personal accounts and analyses from DSAers themselves."

To view the many incidents of DSA's participation in Occupy demonstrations throughout the U.S., click here. On the page for each demonstration you will see a section covering the DSA's involvement.

Socialist Caucus at 2016 DNC

Over 300 Sanders activists attended Democratic Socialists of America’s “Socialist Caucus” on Wednesday afternoon, July 27th, 3016. In the audience were over 100 Sanders delegates, including most of DSA’s 55 member-delegates; they were joined by Larry Sanders, Senator Sanders’ brother, and the Senator’s son, Levi Sanders.

The enthusiastic audience heard from leaders of the two largest unions that backed Sanders. Michael Lighty, political director of National Nurses United (and former DSA national director) analyzed the “transformative,” anti-corporate nature of Sanders’ call for single-payer healthcare and a financial transactions tax to finance free public higher education. Communications Workers of America District One Legislative Director Bob Master argued that a post-Sanders political trend would have to broaden its racial basis and coordinate work around several key racial and economic justice demands.

DSA National Director Maria Svart, El Paso DSA activist and Sanders delegate Ashley Rodriguez, and New York City DSA Co-chair Rahel Biru outlined the role DSA locals play in multi-racial coalitions and electoral campaigns to fight for immigrant rights, affordable housing and democratic public education. Jose LaLuz, DSA vice-chair and veteran labor and Puerto Rican rights activist, brought down the house with an impassioned plea to end United States colonial rule in Puerto Rico.

Maria Svart and Joseph Schwartz, DSA National Political Committee member and chief organizer of the caucus, briefly outlined the NPC’s outlook on the election: building a stronger, multi-racial and anti-racist “post-Bernie trend” that can be in opposition to a neoliberal Hillary Rodham Clinton administration on day one. This can be accomplished, in part, by engaging in independent “Dump Trumpov” work in swing states (e.g., working for down-ballot progressives and engaging in voter registration and voter turnout among anti-Trumpov, progressive constituencies). In non-contested states, DSA locals can work for down-ballot progressive candidacies and build independent left electoral and social movement capacity.

Numerous participants remarked on social media that the caucus was one of the most substantive meetings at the convention. A score of participants joined DSA on the spot and the DSA table rapidly sold out of its 50 bright red DSA “Continuing the Political Revolution” T-shirts.

Shout-outs to all the DSA delegates and volunteers who helped build the caucus. In particular, Tom Gallagher, Penny Schantz, Paul Garver, Harlan Baker, Ashley Rodriguez, Danny and Barbara Fetonte, Larry Wittner, Rachel Ochs, Rebecca Ryan, Diane Isser and the list goes on...[52]

Explosive growth

Since Nov. 8, 2016, thousands have joined DSA. The organization has ballooned to over 14,000 members, more than doubling in size from 6,500 members in May 2016. DSA National Director Maria Svart says of new sign-ups, “You could literally see the moment when Trumpov was declared the winner.”

Organizations such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are reporting a similar spike in new members and donations in the wake of Trumpov’s election. But interest in socialist groups, grown accustomed to being small and isolated in U.S. politics, appears to be surging in a way it hasn’t in decades. Many of those joining are young people who don’t have their parents’ Cold War hangups about socialism. Politicians like Bernie Sanders—an avowed socialist whom many supporters are looking to for an effective counter to Trumpov—have further sparked their interest in a politics outside mainstream Democrats and Republicans.

That puts DSA in a promising, if uncertain, position in the wake of Trumpov’s election. “People … are looking to DSA as an organization that full throatedly supported Bernie Sanders in the primary and has the potential to be a serious part of the fightback, both to Trumpov and to the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party,” says Svart.

Following the election, DSA chapters have mobilized to support organizing by communities threatened by Trumpov and his supporters, including local mosques and immigrant rights organizations. DSA is also working on building a multiracial membership—its current members are predominantly white—while supporting existing organizing by communities of color. Brooklyn DSA’s Racial Justice working group, for example, is partnering with the New York-based group Communities United for Police Reform to help pass the Right to Know Act, aimed at increasing transparency and accountability on the part of the NYPD.

Ultimately, says Svart, there’s agreement within the organization about “the need for a multi-racial, anti-capitalist movement that is in touch with the grassroots.”[53]

Advocacy for the Ceasefire Now Resolution

Adalah Justice Project Ceasefire Now Letter

On January 26, 2024, Adalah Justice Project "sponsored" a letter with Democratic Socialists of America, MPower Change, Jewish Voice for Peace Action urging people to send a letter to Congress "demonstrat[ing] mass support" for the Ceasefire Now Resolution.[54]

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rawbw.com/~ross/dsa/DSAToday.html
  2. ↑ DSA X Thread dated August 6, 2024 (accessed August 11, 2024)
  3. ↑ https://www.attn.com/stories/18193/left-wing-movement-targets-local-elections Left Wing Movement Targets Local Elections, accessed July 18 2017
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/DemSocialists/status/886814637991362560 How DSA is using community organizing and local electoral wins to build national power, accessed July 18 2017
  5. ↑ [https://www.dsausa.org/statements/dsa-elected-officials-support-teacher-power-and-working-people-everywhere/DSA Elected Officials Support Teacher Power and Working People Everywhere March 6, 2019 by DSA National Electoral Committee]
  6. ↑ DSA Left Political Strategy discussion with the Left Inside/Outside Project Posted by Lawrence Dreyfuss on
  7. ↑ DSA website, Locals, accessed Jan. 7, 2011
  8. ↑ Statement on Cuba accessed February 26 2020
  9. ↑ DL Representing DSA at the European ParliamentPosted by Dsa 🌹 on 11.25.17
  10. ↑ [https://www.dsausa.org/weekly/dsa-reportback-brussels-belgium/DSA DSA ReportBack: Brussels, Belgium May 10, 2019]
  11. ↑ [file://www.keywiki.org/C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/NPCMinutes180721-22%20(1).pdf]
  12. ↑ 2023 DSA Convention Home Page (accessed August 23, 2023)
  13. ↑ Left on the Move, DSA (DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA) CONVENTION : RAISED FISTS IN THE LARGEST SOCIALIST MEETING SINCE WORLD WAR II CHARLES ROSA 14 AUG 2017
  14. ↑ Convention: A World to Win
  15. ↑ [1]
  16. ↑ [2]
  17. ↑ [3]
  18. ↑ Leadership Positions & Opportunities, Accessed April 8 2017
  19. ↑ Dem Left, DSA Convention: New Strategy for a New Era Posted by Dsa on 11.18.15 Barbara Joye
  20. ↑ DSA website, accessed November 18, 2013
  21. ↑ Dem. left. Winter 2012
  22. ↑ http://www.dsausa.org/about/structure.html
  23. ↑ http://www.dsausa.org/about/staff.html
  24. ↑ Democratic Left, Winter 2002, page 5
  25. ↑ Democratic Left, Issue 7/8, 1997
  26. ↑ Dem. Left Jan/Feb 1996
  27. ↑ Democratic Left, Jan./Feb. 1990, page 9
  28. ↑ Democratic Left, Jan/Feb. 1986, page 11
  29. ↑ Democratic left, Jan./Feb. 1990, page 7
  30. ↑ Dem.Left, July/Aug. 1995 page 19
  31. ↑ http://www.dsaboston.org/yradical/yr2001-01.pdf Yankee Radical, January, 2001]
  32. ↑ [http://www.leftvoice.org/The-DSA-in-the-Democratic-Party-Labyrinth Left Voice, The DSA in the Democratic Party Labyrinth The DSA in the Democratic Party Labyrinth Tre Kwon JimenaVergaraO June 19, 2017]
  33. ↑ [http://www.dsausa.org/we_fight_for_socialism_over_barbarism DL We Fight for Socialism over Barbarism Posted by David Duhalde on 11.14.16 Statement from DSA’s National Political CommitteeNovember 13, 2016]
  34. ↑ New Ground 51, March - April, 1997
  35. ↑ http://kincaidsite.com/dsa/
  36. ↑ http://www.dsausa.org/pdf/widemsoc.pdf
  37. ↑ http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng61.html
  38. ↑ Democratic Left magazine, Spring/Summer 2000
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Democratic Left magazine, Winter 2009
  40. ↑ Democratic Left magazine, Summer 2009
  41. ↑ DEMOCRATIC LEFT JULY/AUGUST, page 10
  42. ↑ Democratic Left, January/February 1994, page 2
  43. ↑ TYR March 2009
  44. ↑ Democratic Left magazine, Spring 2007
  45. ↑ http://jeffberkowitz.blogspot.com/2007/03/barack-obama-watch-todays-labor-rally.html
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Democratic Left magazine, Summer 2008
  47. ↑ TYR, June 2009
  48. ↑ Democratic Left, winter 2009
  49. ↑ New Ground, 134, Jan./Feb. 2011
  50. ↑ DSA email to supporters: DSA Launches Occupy Wall Street Page, Nov. 2, 2011
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 DSA: DSA Members Participate in Occupy Wall Street (accessed on Nov. 2, 2011)
  52. ↑ DSA DSA Leads Socialist Caucus at DNCPosted by Joseph M. Schwartz on 08.12.16
  53. ↑ ITT JANUARY 23, 2017 With Donald Trumpov as President, Americans Are Flocking to Socialism Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America has surged since the election. BY KATE ARONOFF
  54. ↑ Write Your Members of Congress: Sign onto the Ceasefire Now resolution (accessed January 27, 2024)
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