Democratic Socialists of America

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a democratic socialist organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, a federation of social democratic, democratic socialist, social progressive 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.

Initially the DSA consisted of approximately 5,000 ex-DSOC members and 1,000 ex-NAM members. Upon the DSA's founding, Michael Harrington and socialist-feminist author Barbara Ehrenreich were elected as the organization's co-chairs. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide]*1 Organizational history
 * 1.1 Electoral positions
 * }

[edit] Organizational history
Further information: History of the socialist movement in the United StatesThe DSA was formed in 1982 after a merger between the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM).[1] [2] At the time of the merger of these two organizations, the DSA was said to consist of approximately 5,000 former members of DSOC, along with 1,000 from NAM.[3]

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.[4] Subsequently DSA did enthusiastically support Jackson's second presidential campaign in 1988.[5]

DSA's position on US electoral politics has since evolved. Its present official position 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."[6]

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 so-called "New Democrats" of the Democratic Leadership Council.[7] The group gave the Clinton administration an overall rating of C-, "less than satisfactory."[8]

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.[9] The organization believes that "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..."[10]

[edit] Electoral positions
In 2000, 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. In its official magazine the DSA's Political Action Committee declared: "While we have no illusions about how a Kerry administration would govern — absent mass pressure from below — and are not impressed with his delayed criticism of the war and his earlier commitments in favor of 'free trade,' we also realize that the Bush administration is as reactionary as Reagan’s. A Kerry defeat would be taken not as a defeat of the US political center, which Kerry represents, but of the mainstream Left. As a result, it would embolden the Right and demoralize the Left (as well as trade unionists and people of color) as much as Reagan’s 1984 defeat of Mondale did. On the other hand, a Kerry victory will let us press onward, with progressives aggressively pressuring an administration that owed its victory to democratic mobilization from below."[11] The only resolution on upcoming elections at the DSA's 2005 convention focused on Bernie Sanders' independent campaign for the U.S. Senate.[12] The organization's 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.[13]

In 2008, the DSA critically supported[clarification needed] [citation needed] Barack Obama in his race against Republican John McCain. Following Obama's election, many on the right, and even on the left[14], began to allege that the policies of his administration may be "socialistic," a claim rejected by DSA and the Obama administration alike. The widespread use of the word "socialism" as a political epithet against the Obama government by its opponents did lead to widespread media attention towards American socialist organizations, however.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from April 2010">[citation needed] It caused National Director Frank Llewellyn to declare that "over the past 12 months, the Democratic Socialists of America has received more media attention than it has over the past 12 years.