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Democratic Socialists of America
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Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a social democratic/democratic socialist organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, a federation of social democratic, democratic socialist and labor parties and organizations.
DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). DSOC was the largest group to emerge from the splintering of the Socialist Party of America in 1973; two other Socialist Party factions went on to form Social Democrats USA and the Socialist Party USA. NAM was a coalition of writers and intellectuals with roots in both the New Left movements of the 1960s and the more traditional parties of the Old Left.
At its founding, DSA consisted of almost 5,000 ex-DSOC members and 1,000 ex-NAM members.
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Encyclopedia
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a social democratic/democratic socialist organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, a federation of social democratic, democratic socialist and labor parties and organizations.
DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). DSOC was the largest group to emerge from the splintering of the Socialist Party of America in 1973; two other Socialist Party factions went on to form Social Democrats USA and the Socialist Party USA. NAM was a coalition of writers and intellectuals with roots in both the New Left movements of the 1960s and the more traditional parties of the Old Left.
At its founding, DSA consisted of almost 5,000 ex-DSOC members and 1,000 ex-NAM members. By 1983 DSA reached 7,000 members, which it would not surpass until the early 1990s. Recently, membership has increased to around 10,000. Michael Harrington and socialist-feminist author Barbara Ehrenreich were elected as the organization's co-chairs.
DSA, elections, and the Democratic Party
Originally DSA, like DSOC before it, was very strongly associated with Michael Harrington's position that "the left wing of realism is found today in the Democratic Party." In its early years DSA backed relatively mainstream liberals such as Walter Mondale in spite of the dramatic growth of a left wing associated with Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition. Subsequently DSA did enthusiastically support Jackson's second presidential campaign in 1988.
DSA's position on U.S. electoral politics has since evolved; its present official position (roughly that held since 1993) is that "Democratic socialists reject an either-or approach to electoral coalition building, focused solely on a new party or on realignment within the Democratic Party."
During the 1990s, DSA began looking to the Religious Right's activism within the Republican Party as a model for how the Left could gain a greater foothold within the Democratic Party, which at the time was dominated by President Bill Clinton's "New Democrats" in the Democratic Leadership Council. The group gave the Clinton administration an overall rating of C-, "less than satisfactory".
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of 65 Democratic legislators in the U.S. Congress, worked with DSA against the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. DSA's website included commentary supportive of the Progressive Caucus throughout much of the late 1990s.
DSA's involvement with the Democratic Party has largely been one of convenience, because certain Democratic politicians "possess strong labor backing and operative social democratic politics." The DSA's leadership believes working within the Democratic Party is necessary because of the nature of the American political system, which rarely gives third parties a chance politically. That said, DSA is very critical of the corporate-funded Democratic Party leadership, the Democratic Leadership Council in particular.
"Much of progressive, independent political action will continue to occur in Democratic Party primaries in support of candidates who represent a broad progressive coalition. In such instances, democratic socialists will support coalitional campaigns based on labor, women, people of color and other potentially anti-corporate elements... Electoral tactics are only a means for democratic socialists; the building of a powerful anti-corporate coalition is the end..."
In 2000, the DSA took no official position on the presidential election, with several prominent DSA members backing Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. In 2004, the organization backed John Kerry after he won the Democratic nomination. The only resolution on upcoming elections at the DSA's 2005 convention focused on Bernie Sanders's independent campaign for the U.S. Senate.
The 2007 convention in Atlanta, Georgia featured record-breaking attendance and more participation by the organization's youth wing. The convention was highlighted by a keynote address from Senator Sanders.
In 2008, the DSA critically backed Barack Obama.
Organization and membership
DSA is organized at the local level, and works with labor unions, community organizations, and campus activists on issues of common interest. Nationwide campaigns are coordinated by the organization's national office in New York City. the DSA website lists 24 chartered locals.
DSA publishes Democratic Left, a quarterly journal of news and analysis. In 2008, DSA members active in the U.S. labor movement founded Talking Union, a blog that focuses on labor politics, working class struggles and strategies.
Notable DSA members have included United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, SDS veteran Steve Max, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President William W. Winpisinger, literary critic Irving Howe, feminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem, actor Ed Asner, former Congressman Ron Dellums, author Barbara Ehrenreich, 1997 New York City mayoral candidate Ruth Messinger, United Auto Workers co-founder Victor Reuther, leading African-American Studies professor Cornel West, linguist Noam Chomsky (a "very passive" member), political scientist Stephen Rosskamm Shalom, political columnist Harold Meyerson, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at the Harvard School of Law Elaine Bernard, labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein, and political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner.
In August 2005, DSA announced that its membership had increased by some 13% since July 2003 as the result of a recent direct mail campaign. Membership in DSA is defined primarily by payment of annual dues.
Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) is the official youth section of Democratic Socialists of America.
DSA has a Religion and Socialism Commission, in which Cornel West has played a leading role. John Cort was a founding editor of the Commission's magazine, Religious Socialism.
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