The DSOC, which Harrington described as "the remnant of a remnant",[10] and, after the merger, the DSA soon became the largest democratic-socialist organization in the United States. Initially, the organization consisted of approximately 5,000 ex-DSOC members and 1,000 ex-NAM members. The organization retained around 6,000 members[1] until large membership boosts from the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, the presidential victory of Donald Trump, the 2018 election of DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12][13] By 2021, membership peaked at over 95,000 and the number of local chapters was 239,[1][14] before declining to around 85,000 members by 2023.[1][2][15] The organization is credited with the rise of millennial socialism,[10] as the median age of its membership was 33 in 2017, compared to 68 in 2013.[16]
The red rose is part of the official DSA logo,[47] having traditionally been a symbol of socialism[48] since the 1886 Haymarket Affair and the resulting May Day marches.[49] It was drawn from the logo of the DSOC, its precursor organization, and previously of the Socialist International, which shows a stylized fist clenching a red rose, the fist replaced by a biracial handshake pertaining to the DSA's staunch anti-racism.[50][51] The fist and rose logo was originally designed for the French Socialist Party in 1969[52] and later shared by socialist and labor political organizations worldwide.
In electoral politics, the DSA 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, the DSA opposed Republican presidential candidates by giving critical support to Democratic nominees like Walter Mondale in 1984.[53] In 1988, the DSA enthusiastically supported Jesse Jackson's second presidential campaign.[54] Since 1995, the DSA's position on American electoral politics has been 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".[55] During the 1990s, the DSA gave the Clinton administration an overall rating of C−, "less than satisfactory".[56]
The DSA's elected leadership has often seen working within the Democratic Party as necessary for socialist visibility and electoral victories, rather than forming third parties. In the early 2000s the DSA was critical of the Democratic Party leadership, which it argues is corporate-funded.[57] The organization has stated:[58]
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 2004, the organization backed John Kerry after he won the Democratic nomination. In its official magazine, the DSA's Political Action Committee said that Kerry's defeat would be taken as a defeat of the mainstream left, but that "a Kerry victory will let us press onward, with progressives aggressively pressuring an administration that owed its victory to democratic mobilization from below."[62] The only resolution on upcoming elections at the DSA's 2005 convention focused on Bernie Sanders's independent campaign for the Senate in Vermont.[63] The organization's 2007 convention in Atlanta featured record-breaking attendance and more participation by the organization's youth wing. Sanders gave the keynote address.[64]
In 2008, the DSA supported Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in his race against Republican nominee John McCain. In an article in the March 24 edition of The Nation, DSA members Barbara Ehrenreich and Bill Fletcher Jr., along with Tom Hayden and Danny Glover, announced the formation of Progressives for Obama,[65] arguing that Obama was the most progressive viable Democratic presidential candidate since Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.[65]
Following Obama's election, many on the political right[66] began to allege that his administration's policies were "socialistic", a claim rejected by the DSA and the Obama administration alike. The claim led DSA 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".[67]
In the 2016 presidential election, the DSA endorsed Sanders for president. Sanders's candidacy prompted a surge in DSA membership among young voters.[68] The DSA made clear that Sanders's New Deal-inspired program did not sufficiently prioritize worker ownership, but considered his campaign a favorable development in contemporary American politics,[69] since he was a self-identified democratic socialist who favored worker ownership of the economy and "a lifelong champion of the public programs and democratic rights that empower working class people".[70] The DSA ran the internally focused #WeNeedBernie campaign to mobilize DSA supporters for Sanders.[70] After Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries, the DSA called for Republican nominee Donald Trump's defeat, but did not officially endorse Clinton.[71]
In 2020, the DSA endorsed Sanders for president again after an advisory poll reported 76% of the participating membership approved his endorsement,[72] despite objections from part of the membership about Sanders's statements on, among other topics, slavery reparations.[73] No other candidates were included in the poll. After Sanders dropped out in April 2020, the DSA explicitly did not endorse the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.[74] Two DSA chapters (Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City) voted to endorse Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins.[75]
In May 2020, 91 "founders, officers and activists" of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the 1960s criticized the DSA's failure to endorse Biden in an open letter "to the New New Left From the Old New Left" published in The Nation.[76] Daniel Finn of Jacobin responded that in invoking the specter of fascism under a second-term Trump, the former SDSers were engaging in "melodramatic hyperbole" and that climate change was not an issue that could wait until 2024 or 2028. "No socialist", he argued, "who campaigned for Bernie Sanders should feel guilty about abandoning [the Democrats] and concentrating on building a movement that is the only real hope for the planet’s future".[77]
Ocasio-Cortez's victory and the subsequent publicity for the DSA led to more than 1,000 new members joining the organization the next day, approximately 35 times the daily average[88] and its largest ever one-day increase in membership.[89] These signups helped boost the organization to 42,000 members nationally in June 2018.[90] That number increased to 50,000 by September 1, 2018.[91]
In March 2021, an all-DSA leadership of a state Democratic party was elected for the first time in its history, sweeping the leadership of the Nevada Democratic Party.[141][142] After the elections, the entire Nevada Democratic Party staff resigned.[143] On March 4, 2023, a "unity" slate of candidates was elected, ending DSA leadership of the party.[144]
In May 2023, the DSA claimed that the four-year organizing campaign led by New York state chapters enabled the BPRA to pass.[151][21] DSA and progressive media called it "the biggest Green New Deal victory in U.S. history" due to its provisions for public renewable energy, unionized public jobs, electricity price discounts, and closing natural gas plants.[150][151][152][153]
Membership
Two founding Idahoan DSA members at a big tent event in late September 2018
In the early 1980s, the estimated membership of the DSOC was 5,000, but after its merger with the NAM and subsequent founding of the DSA,[154] the membership of the new organization grew to an estimated 7,000 in 1987.[155] In 2002, Fox News said there were 8,000 members in the DSA.[156]
In 2017, the organization passed a resolution calling for the national office to provide the group's paid members with a copy of a financial report in non-convention years. A first such report covering 2017 and the first half of 2018 was published in August 2018.[157]
The DSA saw large membership boosts from the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, the presidential victory of Donald Trump, the 2018 election of DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12][13] In May 2020, organizers said the DSA had attracted about 10,000 new members since March of that year. According to DSA leaders, after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race in April, many leftists previously aligned with his campaign moved over to the DSA.[13]
In November 2020, the organization claimed over 85,000 members,[158] and by 2021 the DSA claimed around 95,000 members,[1][159] with at least a dozen members in every congressional district.[160] According to the finance data for the 2021 DSA convention, the organization collected $4.6 million in membership dues in 2020.[161] The DSA allows membership dues waivers for members who "may be experiencing financial problems right now".[162]
In 2023, the DSA had approximately 85,000 members,[1][2] a decline from 2021, when membership peaked at around 95,000 members.[1] Some DSA members, such as Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, have argued that this decline was primarily due to dissatisfaction with decisions of DSA congresspeople on military aid to Israel and the 2022 United States railroad labor dispute.[163] Others have claimed this membership change was due to a general decline in interest in socialism since the presidential election of Joe Biden,[2] or insufficient chapter engagement in membership recommitment drives.[1]
Structure
National conventions
Biennial national conventions represent the DSA's highest authority and help guide it and its policies. Conventions are held every odd-numbered year. Convention delegates are primarily chosen by local chapters from their membership, but some are selected at-large for members not associated with a specific chapter.[164]
National Political Committee
Governance of the DSA between conventions is by its National Political Committee (NPC), which since 2001 has been a 16-person body.[165] The DSA's constitution states that at least eight of the NPC's members shall be women and at least four of "racial or national" minority groups.[166] An 17th vote is cast by the representatives of the DSA's youth wing, which elects one male and one female delegate who split the vote. The NPC meets four times a year.[167]
The NPC elects an inner committee of six, the Steering Committee, including five of its own members and one representative of the youth section. At least two of these are constitutionally required to be women and at least one a person of color, with the National Director and the Youth Section Organizer also participating as ex officio members. The Steering Committee meets bimonthly, either in person or by conference call.[168]
The DSA is organized at the local level with guidance from the NPC 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. As of July 2023[update], the DSA lists 206 official chapters and organizing committees in all 50 states,[169] as well as 126 student chapters.[170] In addition, some chapters organize with the DSA or YDSA titles, but are not officially recognized by the organization.
The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) is the DSA's official student section, governed by a National Coordinating Committee consisting of YDSA members from and elected by the broader YDSA membership.[171] YDSA chapters and members are encouraged to pursue and promote a democratic socialist political education and participate in social justice activism, often taking part in anti-war, labor, and student-issue marches and rallies. YDSA publishes The Activist,[172] which also houses a newsletter, The Red Letter.[173] Its national activities revolve around supporting DSA campaigns and initiatives and organizing various student conferences, usually in New York City. YDSA was a full member of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) until 2018, following DSA's 2017 vote to leave the Socialist International for perceived neoliberal tendencies.[174][175]
YDSA has annual national conventions, similar to DSA's biannual conventions, where delegates selected by YDSA chapters vote on the YDSA platform and priorities.[176] YDSA also has annual winter and summer conferences meant to connect student organizers and provide organizational and political education.[177]
YDSA expanded following youth support for Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential candidacy. According to a YDSA organizer, the group expanded from 25 to 84 registered chapters between 2016 and 2019.[178]
As of June 2023[update], the DSA listed 125 official YDSA chapters.[170]
The DSA hires staff to "fulfill the goals set by DSA's elected volunteer leadership."[171] The DSA states that staff do not set its political goals and do not provide political advice.[171]
Staff include the National Director and positions in finances, organizing, communications, development, operations, and grievances.[171]
DSA Fund
The Institute for Democratic Socialism (IDS) was founded in 1978 as a 501(c)(3) organization under the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee to distribute funding to promote democratic socialist ideals via political education and activist trainings.[179] The IDS continued under the DSA upon its founding and, in the mid-1990s, IDS renamed itself the Democratic Socialists of America Fund (DSA Fund).[179]
In the 1990s, the DSA Fund directed resources to the Prison Moratorium Project led by the youth section of DSA, which aimed at divesting from private prisons and contributed to Sodexo partially divesting from private prisons.[181][179]
In the 21st century, the DSA Fund provides support for students to attend YDSA winter and summer conferences, and for democratic socialist political education.[179]
Caucuses
The DSA does not officially recognize caucuses, but they are independently formed by members within the organization. Caucuses play a significant role in the DSA's internal politics, and most members on the National Political Committee are affiliated with a caucus or similar grouping. Caucuses are primarily used to organize DSA members around specific ideological tendencies and political organizing priorities.[182][183][184]
Since 2017, caucuses have played a central role in the organization.[185][183] According to the Alliance for Workers' Liberty, more than 70 percent of resolutions at the 2021 DSA National Convention were written by the various DSA caucuses.[186]
The table below displays information about some major caucuses.[182][184]
The DSA publishes Democratic Left and Socialist Forum, quarterly magazines of news, analysis, and internal debate.[203][204]Democratic Left continues in an uninterrupted run from the original Newsletter of the Democratic Left published by the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, a DSA predecessor, since its establishment in 1973.[citation needed] In 2008, DSA members active in the American labor movement founded Talking Union, a blog that focuses on labor politics, working-class struggles and strategies.[205]
Left-wing quarterly magazine Jacobin is considered very close to the DSA, although they are not officially affiliated.[206] In 2014, Jacobin's founder and then-editor Bhaskar Sunkara, a DSA member, praised DSA founder Michael Harrington and said Harrington was “very underrated as a popularizer of Marxist thought".[207]
The DSA's constitution states that it may expel those who are "in substantial disagreement with the principles or policies of the organization or if they consistently engage in undemocratic, disruptive behavior or if they are under the discipline of any self-defined democratic-centralist organization."[219] But the DSA allows double membership with other groups and de facto does not enforce the clause against democratic centralism. For this reason, a significant segment of Socialist Alternative, a Trotskyist and democratic centralist party, has joined DSA since 2020 to promote the formation of an independent socialist party and "unity in action".[220] A major caucus within DSA, Marxist Unity Group, also practices democratic centralism, but support of democratic centralism remains a minority position.[221]
Socialism
The dominant position in DSA regards the abolition of capitalism and the realization of socialism as a long-term goal, therefore the organization focuses its immediate political energies on reforms within capitalism that empower working people while decreasing the power of corporations.[222][223][224][225]
The DSA characterizes its vision of socialism as an economic system based on a range of models for social ownership, including publicly owned enterprises, worker-owned cooperatives, and decentralized planning. The DSA rejects traditional centralized economic planning in favor of a combination of democratic planning and market socialist mechanisms.[226] Additionally, because the DSA does not believe capitalism and private corporations can be immediately replaced with socialism, it is favorable to expand corporate regulations and organized labor to make private businesses more accountable to the public interest in the short term.[227]
We believe there are many avenues that feed into the democratic road to socialism. Our vision pushes further than historic social democracy and leaves behind authoritarian visions of socialism in the dustbin of history.
— Democratic Socialists of America
Welfare state
One older leaflet detailing the group's ideas, "What is Democratic Socialism?", states that "no country has fully instituted democratic socialism". Nonetheless, according to the DSA, there are lessons to be learned from "the comprehensive welfare state maintained by the Swedes, from Canada's national healthcare system, France's nationwide childcare program, and Nicaragua's literacy programs".[229] The DSA lauds the "tremendous prosperity and relative economic equality" established by the social democratic parties of Scandinavia and parts of Western Europe, while the organization maintains its goal to move beyond capitalism entirely.[229][228]
Positioning itself as an anti-racist and anti-fascist organization,[230] the DSA connects this fight against fascist groups to its broader struggle against capitalism, saying on its website: "We believe that the terror unleashed on our comrades can be defeated. We also believe that the wider system of racist oppression can be defeated, but only with the ending of the capitalist system which birthed it".[231]
The DSA believes in defending communities from neofascist violence and building a multi-racial working-class movement.[232] This involves deplatformingreactionary and racist groups and events, believing that a united front of left-wing organizations needs to confront these forces wherever they appear.[233]
Labor movement and workers' rights
The DSA has long been a supporter and defender of the labor movement in the United States and has also argued for the increase of international worker solidarity. The DSA believes in a livable minimum wage for all workers, but it notes that this fight only goes so far and is only the first step in building a more humane economic system: "Ultimately the minimum wage only works for those lucky enough to find a job – even a low paying one – and it doesn't really "work" for them, because it doesn't come with health benefits, adequate schools, or enough money to set aside for retirement".[234] DSA members have been supporters and active participants in fights to increase the minimum wage across the country, including the Fight for $15 protests.[235][236]
The DSA opposes right-to-work laws, which are seen as an attack on the rights of workers and the historic advances of the labor movement.[237] It is argued that the enactment of these laws reduces the efficacy of collective bargaining agreements, putting workers at a disadvantage.[237] In a statement released in 2014, the organization said: "Such 'right to work' laws consciously aim to weaken union strength; they are the main reason why the 'right to work' is, as Martin Luther King Jr. put it, 'the right to work for less'".[237]
The DSA argues that financial elites have consciously fought to destroy union power in an effort to solidify the hegemony of markets and corporate power.[238] The organization believes that for an equitable and sustainable economic system, the production of wealth should be under the democratic control of those who produce it.[238] The DSA also emphasizes the role played by immigrants, women, disabled workers, LGBTQIA+ and workers of color in the broader labor movement, believing that all barriers between working people must be broken in order to help create and maintain a broad and unified labor movement.[239]
LGBTQ+ rights
The DSA is committed to the rights of the LGBT community, connecting anti-gay prejudice to capitalist exploitation. This includes pushes for equal rights and protections for all those who identify as LGBTQIA+ as well as rights to housing, jobs, education, public accommodations, and healthcare. The DSA recognizes that those who are most discriminated against based on identity are disproportionately women and people of color. The organization also seeks to ensure public schools are safe places for LGBTQIA+ students and that students should have total access to facilities that reflect their gender. The DSA supports the protection of same-sex marriages, but it "views marriage as only a first step in recognizing the diversity of human relationships".[240]
Feminism
The DSA aligns itself with the socialist feminist movement. The organization holds that capitalism is built on white supremacy as well as male supremacy. The DSA maintains that reproductive rights are central to the feminist movement. Connecting democratic socialism and socialist feminism, the DSA says "that birth control and safe abortion should be provided as part of a comprehensive single-payer healthcare program". Believing that electoral politics can only take socialist feminism so far, the organization also says that the emphasis must be on community-based grassroots movements. The DSA further says that socialist feminism must include the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.[241]
In 2016, the DSA issued a statement of solidarity with Venezuela. The statement called the sanctions placed on Venezuela by the Obama administration unjust and illegal. It called for the United States to cease its interference in Venezuelan affairs, saying: "We call on the President and Congress to reverse these actions and stop seeking to undermine the Venezuelan people and their legitimate, democratically elected government".[242]
At the 2017 DSA Convention, the group announced its withdrawal from the Socialist International (SI). The resolution passed states that the DSA will "[build] direct relationships with socialist and left parties and social movements around the world that we can learn from and which share our values.... Our affiliation with the Socialist International hinders our ability to develop stronger relationships with parties and social movements that share our values and which, in many cases, are bitterly opposed to their country's SI affiliate(s)".[243][244] This was viewed as the DSA voicing its opposition to the SI's perceived acceptance of "neoliberal economic policies".[245]
At the 2017 convention it also passed a resolution which solidified the DSA's solidarity with the cause of the Palestinian people and with the controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement: "Democratic Socialists of America condemns all efforts to deny the right of Palestinians in the United States and their allies to free speech, assembly, and academic freedom".[243] The resolution further condemned Israeli actions, comparing those actions to apartheid.[244] The DSA has shown its solidarity with Ahed Tamimi.[246] The statement also reiterated the DSA's support for the liberation of the Palestinian people.[246]
The DSA opposes United States intervention in the Syrian Civil War. A statement issued in April 2017 called the intervention by the Trump administration a violation of both domestic and international law. In the same statement, the DSA called for protests of Trump's actions and for the lobbying of Congress to halt any further intervention.[247]
At the 2019 DSA Convention, the group announced its support for open borders.[248] At the 2021 DSA Convention, the organization's members voted to apply for membership in the São Paulo Forum, a conference of leftist political parties and organizations largely from Latin America and the Caribbean.[249]
In 2019, the DSA published a statement against U.S. intervention in Venezuela during the Venezuelan presidential crisis, arguing that both the "increasingly top-down Venezuelan government as well as the fractious Venezuelan opposition ... bear significant responsibility" for the crisis.[250] A DSA delegation of the International Committee traveled to Caracas, Venezuela in June 2021 to meet with Nicolás Maduro and to attend the Bicentennial Congress of the Peoples (Spanish: Congreso Bicentenario de los Pueblos), considered not an autonomous body, but rather "an assemblage of national and foreign supporters" of Maduro launched "to coat itself with a veneer of international support".[251][252] The DSA International Committee was criticized both externally and by DSA members for giving legitimacy to the Maduro administration, as well as for having its delegation stay at one of Caracas's most expensive hotels, the Gran Meliá Caracas [es], where rooms cost $200 a night, and for partying despite the COVID-19 restrictions in Venezuela.[253] It was also criticized for giving "a bad name to the international left in Venezuela".[254]
On February 26, 2022, the DSA issued a statement condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine while arguing that the United States and NATO provoked Russia.[255] The statement called for the United States to withdraw from NATO and "end the imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict".[256][257] This statement was criticized by Democratic congresspeople, as well as politicians who were affiliated with the DSA.[256][255] Critics called the DSA statement "tone-deaf".[257] Others defended the statement and criticized the responses from mainstream media and politicians attacking the organization.[258][259] According to Intelligencer, "The suggestion that the U.S. was somehow to blame for Vladimir Putin's war of aggression was seized on by the DSA's critics across the ideological spectrum—from the New YorkPost to Democratic congressional candidate Max Rose—while setting off a round of recriminations and counterstatements among American leftists."[256]
The Sunshine Policy (햇볕정책) is the policy toward North Korea proposed by South Korean liberals, which American liberals have widely condemned since the 2010s. In particular, former president Barack Obama opposed the Sunshine Policy and supported the "Strategic Patience" (전략적 인내) policy, which rejected any dialogue with Kim Jong-un and preferred only sanctions against North Korea.[260] In opposition to Obama, the DSA supported the Sunshine Policy.
During Donald Trump's presidency, the Strategic Patience policy was largely abandoned, as Trump met with Kim Jong-un three times;[g] these meetings did not result in the lifting of U.S. sanctions on North Korea, and the Trump administration continued to uphold a travel ban on the country, which the DSA condemned.[261][262]
Since Joe Biden's election as president in 2020, the DSA International Committee (DSA IC) has called on the Biden administration to support the Sunshine Policy and lift the Trump-era U.S. travel ban on North Korea.[262] The DSA IC states that this would reinstate American activists' ability to engage in cultural and educational exchanges in the country and allow them to play a role in peace talks and negotiations for the reunification of separated Korean families.[262] The DSA opposes all forms of sanctions against North Korea.[262]
The DSA opposes Zionism and the current form of the State of Israel. It views the current form of the State of Israel as an imperialistethnostate.[263][264] The DSA supported Israel during the late 20th century, including socialist and progressive individuals and movements inside the state, with Jo-Ann Mort, former vice-chair of DSA, describing the group as formerly having been "the place to go on the left if you were a socialist and you were pro-Israel".[264]
On August 5, 2017, members of the organization nearly unanimously passed a motion to formally endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.[263][264][265]Alternet noted that this had been a divisive issue between older members trying to "reconcile socialism with Zionism" and younger members who considered the movement a "time-tested means of nonviolent protest" and "the most powerful force to combat Israeli apartheid in the 21st century".[263]
In response, many DSA members and the DSA National Political Committee (NPC) condemned Bowman's actions. In a statement, the National Political Committee expressed the "importance of developing greater accountability for DSA electeds" and vowed to "reevaluate our national endorsement process."[270] In this statement, the NPC said it "will not re-endorse Bowman unless he is able to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine", but that his criticisms of the Israeli government and perceived progress on this subject due to DSA engagement with his office did not warrant his expulsion from the organization.[270] Petitions for and against Bowman's expulsion circulated within DSA in 2021, with the national BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group endorsing his expulsion.[271][272]
In February 2022, Bowman removed his sponsorship of the Israeli Relations Normalization Act, which some NPC members considered a win from engaging with Bowman's office.[273] Others in DSA challenged this interpretation, including the BDS Working Group.[274] In March 2022, the NPC voted 9–8 to punish the BDS Working Group for alleged disruptive behavior, which included dechartering it, moving its work to the International Committee, and banning its leadership from DSA leadership positions.[275] A subsequent petition against the NPC's decision gathered 1,416 signatures,[276] while another petition with 361 signatures argued that it was an "unfortunate but necessary decision" due to the working group's alleged inappropriate behavior and for acting independently of the elected NPC leadership.[277][278] Various Palestinian organizations condemned the NPC's decision and urged a boycott of DSA until it was rescinded.[279][280][281][282] Multiple NPC members resigned in reaction.[283] Ultimately, the NPC unanimously voted to rescind its decision to decharter the BDS Working Group, while maintaining the leadership suspension.[283] The leadership suspension has since expired.
In April 2023, Bowman co-led a letter to President Biden with Senator Bernie Sanders urging a probe into the use of U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians.[284][285] The letter called for restricting $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel and "immediate action to prevent the further loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives".[284]
In July 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution, 412–9, declaring that "The State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state, Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia, and the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel."[286] Among those voting against the resolution were DSA members Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Bush, and Bowman, who each cited the Israeli government's human rights abuses against Palestinians.[286]Casar voted for the resolution.[286][b]
^Unlike American political parties, but similarly to European political parties, the DSA is a centralized, hierarchical organization with local chapters and dues-paying memberships.
^Dorothy Healey and Maurice Isserman, Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990; pp. 245–249.
^O'Rourke, William (1993). "L: Michael Harrington". Signs of the literary times: Essays, reviews, profiles, 1970–1992. The Margins of Literature (SUNY Series). SUNY Press. pp. 195–196. ISBN0-7914-1681-X.
^ abHayden, Tom; Ehrenreich, Barbara; Fletcher, Bill Jr.; Glover, Danny (March 25, 2008). "Progressives for Obama". The Nation. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
^Democratic Left Editorial Team (Winter 2020). "Chapter and Verse: DSA specialty: Toppling incumbents". Retrieved January 5, 2021. At least 48 DSA members were on the ballot this November, and at least 36 won office, earning more than 3.1 million votes for socialist candidates altogether.
^"Meg Gorman for Congress". www.facebook.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020. I'm beyond proud to receive the endorsement of Chattanooga Democratic Socialists of America.
^"Spring 2020 Voter Guide". Madison Area Dsa – Democratic Socialists of America. March 31, 2020. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
^Svart, Maria (November 19, 2020). "National Political Committee newsletter — 85,000 members strong". Democratic Socialists of America. Retrieved November 19, 2020. The Recruitment Drive ended this past weekend, and we now have more than 85,000 DSA members!! (...)
^"Rise of the democratic socialists". The Week. July 30, 2018. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2019. DSA's national platform calls for abolishing capitalism
^"문정인 "바이든이 미 대통령 되면 북한 문제 풀기 어려워"" [Moon Chung-in said, "If Biden [not Trump] becomes the U.S. president, it will be difficult to solve the North Korean problem".]. 동아일보. July 3, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
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