This text was written as part of the LSC Pamphlet Program. It reflects only the opinions of the author(s) and not the consensus of the Libertarian Socialist Caucus.

A Guide to DSA Politics

Written by: Bryce S, Princeton YDSA
Edited by: Syjil A, Delaware DSA; Alex M, Seattle DSA
Budget section by: John L, DSA Treasurer and New Orleans DSA

Introduction

As the 2025 Democratic Socialists of America Convention approaches, several major developments have arisen in US socialist organizing since a previous article on the same topic. New DSA members are bound to feel lost in understanding some of the organization’s national dynamics. This article seeks to give a broad overview in terms of institutional knowledge and organizational history in order to help members who are either disengaged from national DSA or new to organizing in DSA.

Before getting into more specific descriptions, we should clarify some basic facts about DSA. Contrary to some perceptions of the organization, DSA is not simply focused on electoral campaigns. It has also played a key role in organizing and leading efforts for militant, class-struggle labor and tenant unions; anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist protests and direct actions; social housing and public renewable energy campaigns; expansions of reproductive and trans rights; police and prison abolitionism, and more across the country, with significant variations in priorities across chapters, caucuses, and ideological tendencies.

Secondly, unlike most other socialist organizations in the United States, DSA has no single “line,” but is rather designed to include the widest range of tendencies within socialism, save some extreme exceptions that contradict core socialist principles (e.g., labor Zionism, MAGA Communism, etc). Under this umbrella fall ideologies such as Trotskyism, anarchism, reformism, orthodox Marxism, libertarian Marxism, the democratic road to socialism, Marxism–Leninism, and more. In other words, there is no such thing as being “more left-wing than DSA”—the organization is meant to be a big tent that includes all socialists from the center-left to the far-left. This diversity has developed a strong culture of debate, open thought, and ultimately substantially greater membership numbers than other more sectarian organizations, allowing for not only collective unity around common goals, but also more complete information with diverse perspectives involved in regular deliberation and simultaneously practicing different theories of organizing.

If you feel that this guide does not provide sufficient information about DSA’s politics, I encourage you to review the 2024 DSA Program, which covers some of the overarching purpose, big tent ideology, and organizing of DSA.

Key terminology

Some terms are widely thrown around in DSA, but may not be entirely clear to those who are not already engaged in the national organization. Many of these are centered around major debates within the organization. In this section, I first discuss the governance structure of DSA, before moving into DSA’s three official national priorities set at the 2023 DSA Convention—electoral, labor, and ecosocialist organizing—and internationalism as a de facto priority particularly following October 2023. All levels of the organization are meant to have democratic structure in some form or another, from the local chapter to the national organization.

Internal governance

• Chapters are where the vast majority of work happens within DSA. These are local semi-autonomous formations in which DSA members carry out the bulk of the organization’s labor, tenant, housing, electoral, reproductive justice, internationalist and other organizing. Chapters are typically independently incorporated but, as part of the national organization’s federated structure, are officially recognized sections and rarely have their own staff like national DSA does. National DSA works with chapters through mentorship carried out by staff, National Political Committee members, and/or national committee leaders to solve problems or discuss the general direction of DSA and local recruitment. Some chapters have branches which are subsections within the chapter, designed to give special attention and structure to the organizing priorities of and issues facing certain geographic regions within a broader chapter. For example, this includes the San Fernando Valley Branch of DSA Los Angeles and the North Virginia Branch of Metro DC DSA. Some chapters may also form state-wide formations to better coordinate amongst themselves, such as California DSA.
• Convention is the biannual organization-wide event for which delegates are elected by each DSA chapter to attend and vote on the future direction of the organization as a whole. This is the highest decision-making body in DSA, given more power than all other structures in the organization. YDSA also has a convention that is held annually for the youth wing of the organization.
• The National Political Committee (NPC) is the highest decision-making body in DSA outside the biannual conventions. This body is elected by convention delegates and consists of 17 seats, consisting of 16 elected at the DSA National Convention, and one shared by the two co-chairs of YDSA who are elected at the YDSA National Convention. Two of these members are then elected by convention delegates to serve as the national DSA co-chairs. Within the NPC there is also a six-seat Steering Committee made up of five elected by NPC members and one seat again shared by the YDSA co-chairs; this committee’s purpose is to commit additional time to DSA affairs that the whole NPC is unable to get to.
• The National Coordinating Committee (NCC) is similar to the NPC but is specific to YDSA. This body is elected by YDSA National Convention delegates and consists of 9 seats, including two co-chairs and seven at-large. The NCC does not have a steering committee like that of the NPC.
• National working groups, committees, and commissions are national autonomous groups recognized by DSA which focus on organizing and mobilizing around specific issue areas, such as the International Committee, the Housing Justice Commission, the National Labor Commission, the Afrosocialists Caucus, the Queer Socialists Working Group, the Abolitionist Working Group, and more. There are currently more than a dozen of these in DSA, as well as others specific to YDSA. Other formations, such as the Emergency Worker Organizing Committee (EWOC) and Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC) are managed by DSA members, but operate with some degree of autonomy. In the case of EWOC, it is an independent initiative for labor organizing and training managed by both DSA and United Electrical; in the case of ETOC, it is a program under the DSA Housing Justice Commission for tenant organizing and training. The Student Worker Alliance Network (SWAN) is an informal body run by socialist (largely YDSA) leadership as the “Student Workers Alliance,” but serves as a group for student labor union organizers inside and outside of YDSA and the socialist movement to connect and share skills.
• As of the time this was published, there are 20 paid staff members of DSA who are hired by the NPC to carry out DSA’s democratically-decided national goals, as well as local chapters’ organizing. Staff are not meant to set the organization’s priorities, but instead to help the volunteer members of the NPC, NCC, working groups, commissions, and chapters in fulfilling their goals. Non-directive staff are unionized with the Communications Workers of America as the DSA Union. Previously, the number of staff reached 33, but shrunk due to national budget issues and some staff subsequently stepping down or being laid off.
• Caucuses are informal factions of DSA members, typically with a particular ideological tendency, theory of organizing, or political priority. Some smaller caucuses may also distinguish themselves by their geographic region. Caucuses coordinate events among their members, promote their theories of change within the organization, make proposals aligned with their specific platforms at conventions and on national bodies, and run national body candidates. Slates serve as similar formations, as they market certain candidates or ideological tendencies, but they do not have caucus-like structures with permanent members and activities. Some factions are neither caucuses nor slates, instead simply being represented by entryist parties who otherwise operate as independent entities, such as Socialist Alternative. It should be noted that the Afrosocialists “Caucus” is a misnomer, in fact being an official national working group including all people of color in a variety of caucuses.

Electoral organizing and the party question

• The dirty break strategy is the dominant position in DSA on the party question, which adopts a strategic use of the Democratic Party ballot line only in the short term due to the prevailing political conditions which typically preclude third party candidates from winning elections. However, the ultimate goal is still to build the independent infrastructure and resources for an effective independent socialist party.
• The party surrogate strategy is a variation of the dirty break strategy, wherein DSA operates as a faction within the Democratic Party. This approach focuses on cultivating elected discipline (i.e., political discipline of Socialists in Office) and independent infrastructure, with the aim of this faction of the Democratic Party becoming an independent socialist party.
• The realignment strategy involves working within the Democratic Party for an extended period of time with the goal of shifting the party to the left. Generally, this means pushing for the Democratic Party to adopt more social democratic or socialist principles, enabling socialist politics to eventually prevail within the party. Supporters of the realignment strategy usually prefer less restrictive elected discipline, and may refer to the strategy as more in line with "mass politics."
• The clean break strategy advocates for DSA to immediately and completely break from the Democratic Party and exclusively use a third-party or independent ballot line instead. Supporters of the clean break strategy argue that any electoral campaigns done via the Democratic Party ballot line are very difficult or impossible to beget authentic working-class independence and committed socialist politics in government.
• The dual power or “base building” approach is primarily adopted by libertarian socialists and rejects the party question as a priority, instead seeing building “counterpower” outside the state as the best route to challenging capitalism. This may include building independent democratic structures for labor, tenant, co-op, council, direct action, and protest organizing. While those who reject dual power or base building frequently support these activities as well, the distinction here is that those who support these approaches tend to deprioritize or even entirely reject electoralism or the party model. Although “dual power” is a term which originates from Vladimir Lenin’s description of the February Revolution of 1917, when workers’ councils co-governed with the Russian Provisional Government, the term has been appropriated to describe this model of transition wherein counterpower institutions gradually build the leverage necessary to overthrow capitalism and possibly the state.

Labor organizing

• The rank-and-file strategy involves socialist organizers entering the labor movement as shop-floor workers rather than union staff with an orientation toward class struggle and radicalization through experience. This approach focuses on agitating for militant activity against bosses and concessionary union bureaucracies, democratizing labor unions, and developing organic labor leaders from the rank-and-file. The rank-and-file strategy is dominant in DSA, with other models having minority support.
• The rank-and-file strategy is distinguished from staff-centered models, in which labor union staff drive the organizing rather than the workers themselves. This is different from red unionism, which refers to union organizing with exclusively socialist leadership, and business unionism, which refers to concessionary, non-militant labor organizing as exemplified by “labor-management partnerships,” quick willingness to avoid strike activity regardless of situation, or weak workplace demands or orientation toward class struggle organizing.

Ecosocialist organizing

• The Green New Deal is a term for public policy that secures a “just transition” away from fossil fuel dependency and in favor of decarbonization, demilitarization, and decommodification of energy systems and resources with the goal of putting them under democratic control. The term was first popularized by anti-capitalist Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in his 2010 New York gubernatorial race, before receiving wider exposure from the work of DSA member and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez since 2018. Oftentimes, the term specifically refers to legislation similar to the AOC-Markey GND or New York’s Build Public Renewables Act. The Green New Deal is more often prioritized by DSA “right” caucuses, but support for the Green New Deal is the official position of DSA as a whole.
• Degrowth refers to an ecosocialist perspective that is sometimes positioned in contrast to the “Green New Deal” and seeks to intentionally reduce unnecessary or wasteful economic production and consumption. This is meant to ultimately bring about a decline in faulty metrics like GDP in order to prevent climate catastrophe and improve quality of life for the majority of people. This perspective does not necessarily center on public policy, but rather a broad range of organizing, including direct action, participatory democracy, and “anti-work” changes toward alternative economies, worker and community ownership, and a cultural shift away from “economic growth” as an indicator of prosperity and quality of life. The degrowth perspective is adopted by some, but not all, DSA “left” caucuses, and is part of the official position of YDSA.

Internationalist organizing

• Third campism refers to an internationalist perspective originally rooted in the perspective of Trotskyist groups influenced by Max Shachtman. Shachtman opposed both the capitalist “first camp” and the Stalinist “second camp,” instead purporting to be in favor of the international proletariat “third camp.” Historically, third campists, unlike orthodox Trotskyists, have not been defenders of the then-existing “workers’ states.” Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, this view has typically referred to simultaneous opposition to the Western “first camp” as represented by the US, Western Europe, Israel, and their allies, as well as the non-Western “second camp” as represented by China, Russia, Iran, and their allies.
• Campism focuses specifically on Western imperialism as the primary threat to global peace and liberation while arguing that the actions of other states are at least not currently relevant to American socialists. Campists may also argue that third campism inadvertently serves to support Western imperialism. While this term has historically carried negative connotations, it has become more of a reclaimed descriptor in recent years.
• Anti-Zionism is DSA’s position on the Palestine question, wherein Zionism is recognized as a colonial and racist ideology that enables “Israel” to exist as an apartheid regime built on ethnic cleansing and genocide. Anti-Zionists completely reject arguments regarding Israel’s “right to exist” or to “defend itself” as they see it as an illegitimate entity, particularly in the context of its foundation as an explicitly settler colonial project and its continued oppression of the Palestinian people and other Arabs. Since its 2017 National Convention, DSA has supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a consumer boycott of Israeli products and companies which support the oppression of Palestinians; divestment from endowments and investment portfolios containing the same; and political, economic, and cultural sanctions on the Zionist entity and its institutions.
• Typically, anti-Zionists favor a one-state solution (1SS) or one democratic state (ODS), wherein the Israeli occupation of Palestine is resolved with a single, multinational, democratic state spanning “from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea,” i.e., all of historic Palestine. This does not refer to the Zionist one-state solution, which seeks to have a Jewish ethnostate in at least all of historic Palestine, usually also including the Golan Heights and, in its most extreme form, wide swaths of the Levant and Middle East. Proponents of the one-state solution typically argue that the two-state solution is either no longer viable or was never viable due to Israel’s continued occupation and settlement of the West Bank and Gaza or by pointing to the explicitly stated motive, since the early days of the Zionist movement, to establish a Jewish ethnostate in historic Palestine through colonization and ethnic cleansing.
• The official state position in the U.S. is a two-state solution (2SS) wherein the Israeli occupation is resolved by establishing two separate states, typically along the lines of the current UN-recognized borders of Israel and Palestine. Supporters of a 2SS see it as either a valid compromise or the only possible solution in which the Zionist state maintains its existence. In order for this to happen, Zionists still must completely de-occupy the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights—a move that U.S. politicians have largely done nothing to encourage Israel towards—and end internal apartheid. This view is more common among DSA members who are relatively less engaged in the broader organization, as well as among members who were part of DSA prior to 2016, influenced by founder Michael Harrington. Additionally, party members of Socialist Alternative and the old guard of the Reform and Revolution caucus officially support a 2SS. It is disputed whether the two-state solution represents an anti-Zionist or merely a non-Zionist perspective in the context of pro-Palestine organizing.
• Another significant view is that it should not be our role to determine the ideal solution from outside of Palestine, but rather it is the responsibility of Palestinians themselves to determine the path forward, whether that be a one-state solution, a two-state solution, or some other solution.

Factions

Internal debates in DSA are often driven by the various caucuses, slates, and other factions, each advocating for distinct organizing theories, ideologies, and political priorities. Many members describe broad "left" and "right" camps with varying definitions—however, the "left" here will refer to those with more revolutionary or non-electoral priorities, while the "right" here will refer to those with more reformist or electoral priorities.

Anti-Zionist Slate

The Anti-Zionist Slate (AZ) is a former slate of National Political Committee candidates for the 2023 DSA National Convention dedicated to organizing for Palestinian liberation. They are strongly in favor of strict elected discipline in an effort to foster strong relationships with allied organizations and to produce ideal conditions for anti-Zionist and socialist organizing. Although the vast majority of DSA supports anti-Zionism, the Anti-Zionist Slate is known for their expertise in Palestine solidarity work, anti-Zionist organizing and for centering unwavering anti-Zionism as an essential part of socialist organizing. With a broadly more revolutionary socialist outlook, supporters of the AZ platform also prioritized local organizing via labor and tenant union organizing and redirection of national resources to chapters, as well as restoring lost membership through training and recruitment programs. The Slate is not an active group, as its purpose was specifically for the 2023 Convention. However, one member remains on the NPC as part of the broader left bloc.

Bread and Roses

Bread and Roses (BnR or B&R) is a caucus formed in 2019 that espouses Marxism, Nicos Poulantzas’s “democratic road to socialism,” the rank-and-file strategy, and a vision of internationalism resembling third campism. The caucus evolved from Solidarity and the former International Socialist Organization, both independent Trotskyist organizations involved in the United Secretariat of the Fourth International; and the Left Caucus, Momentum, and Spring Caucus, all former DSA caucuses with similar politics as today’s BnR.

Much of BnR’s organizing centers around rank-and-file labor organizing in particular, but the caucus also has a substantial electoral program that includes prominent local DSA electeds such as Richie Floyd in Florida and Jesse Brown in Indiana. BnR also has some connections to projects not explicitly part of DSA organizing, such as Jacobin and the Rank and File Project. More recently, BnR has worked with the Communist Caucus to form the Strike Wave Slate for National Labor Commission leadership in 2023. Bread and Roses’ caucus publication is The Call, where members write articles reflecting their perspectives.

BnR members are identifiable on social media by their use of the bread (🥖 or 🍞) and rose (🌹) emojis, with their caucus name being a reference to suffragette Helen Todd’s 1911 slogan “bread for all, and roses too” and the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. They currently represent 3 out of 17 seats on the NPC, and 3 out of 9 seats on the NCC. Often described as part of the DSA “left,” BnR is closer to DSA’s center than other caucuses and are on the right within YDSA.

Caracol

Caracol is a minor caucus formed in 2023 to platform degrowth as an alternative to traditional Green New Deal organizing in DSA. Specifically framing themselves as Marxist organizers, Caracol members describe their goal as a “radical Green New Deal” with priorities beyond the AOC-Markey Green New Deal, including decolonization of the global economy, reduction of consumption, mining extraction, and work, and regeneration rather than economic growth. Its activity has remained limited thus far but has still received attention from some notable degrowth figures.

Caracol members are identifiable on social media by their use of the snail emoji (🐌), an international symbol for degrowth politics and a reference to their name which is Spanish for “snail.” Although Caracol has yet to participate more broadly in DSA, they aim to take a bigger role in DSA's national committees.

Communist Caucus

The Communist Caucus (CC or Commie Caucus) is a multi-tendency communist and Marxist caucus with autonomist Marxist and Dutch-German left-communist leanings that emphasizes “spadework,” or an outward-facing “mass work” approach through militant labor union, tenant union, and workers’ association organizing. Describing itself as a “big tent” Marxist caucus, Commie Caucus accepts a wide range of Marxist organizers committed to their base building strategy, although its members tend to lean more toward libertarian tendencies.

Largely concentrated in East Bay DSA, Commie Caucus has grown into a national caucus that rejects bureaucracy and top-down organizing. Its work has led to the creation of the Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC) within DSA’s Housing Justice Commission, which serves to organize tenant unions and support other tenant organizers. Commie Caucus is generally less involved in national DSA politics than other caucuses on the left, instead almost exclusively centering itself around local labor and tenant union organizing. The Communist Caucus endorsed Red Star’s candidates in the 2023 DSA National Convention instead of running its own candidates, but it did form the Strike Wave Slate with Bread and Roses for leadership of the National Labor Commission in 2023. The caucus’s associated publication is Partisan, which they share with Emerge.

Commie Caucus members often identify themselves on social media with a spade emoji (♠️) in reference to their “spadework.” The Communist Caucus is on the DSA left, although they have minimal presence in YDSA.

Constellation

Constellation is a YDSA-specific caucus founded in 2022 that primarily seeks to expand the “national bureaucracy” of DSA and YDSA in order to empower political leadership to make meaningful decisions, connect chapters to national leaders, and  build toward the formation of a mass socialist party. They believe in rigorous opposition to US imperialism including attacks on socialists in state power, the party surrogate electoral model that has defined DSA’s strategy over the last 8 years, and the expansion of democratic culture and practice including the regulation of caucuses and setting a limited set of strategic campaigns.

Constellation is generally on the left in DSA on some questions including anti-imperialism and member-driven grievance structures while further to the right on other questions, including budgetary priorities. Constellation does not necessarily follow an exact ideology in the traditional sense, instead focusing on developing DSA’s internal structure, however they take inspiration from broad swathes of the pink tide, the Cuban Revolution, and the heyday of the Communist Party USA. The caucus once considered a merger with the larger Red Star caucus due to overlapping views, particularly on internationalism, but such considerations fell through due to overall differences in ideology, mass politics, and YDSA strategy.

Constellation members often display the shooting star emoji on social media (💫). Constellation currently claims 3 out of 9 seats on the YDSA NCC, including one of the co-chairs, which means it also occupies half of a seat on the NPC

Emerge

Emerge is a caucus that was formed in 2018 and was specific to New York City, but has begun to informally expand nationally in 2024. Emerge is a multi-tendency communist—but especially autonomist Marxist and Dutch-German left-communist—caucus united around abolition, anti-imperialism, and supporting working class self-organization. Emerge believes in collective struggle and unity of the socialist movement with the masses to build a robust multi-racial, counter-hegemonic force toward revolution. Emerge has some ideological overlaps with the Communist Caucus and the Libertarian Socialist Caucus.

While they believe in running socialists for office on either Democratic or third-party ballot lines in the present and participate in electoral and legislative campaigns that engage class struggle, Emerge emphasizes that electoralism is only one part of politicizing all aspects of life. They advocate for binding standards for endorsements under a party surrogate model and for the local community base-building that would support Socialists in Office in maintaining those standards. Emerge supports participatory democratic, big tent socialist organizing. They support the rank-and-file labor strategy, but view it as only one aspect of a vibrant labor revitalization that must also include workers not sufficiently represented by unions or labor law such as domestic workers, sex workers, and workers in the gig economy.

Emerge has had three members on the NPC and two co-chairs of the International Committee. The caucus has ties to the anti-Zionist and abolitionist street movements, and its members have significant overlap with the DSA International Committee, racial justice, immigration justice, and anti-war working groups, Red Rabbits, and local mutual aid/grassroots organizing. Caucus members can be found on social media using the cherry blossom emoji (🌸), a reference to the pink flowers in their logo. The caucus’s associated publication is Partisan, which they share with the Communist Caucus, and they are on the DSA left.

Groundwork

Groundwork (GW) is a reformist and moderate ecosocialist caucus. It is thought of as the more moderate descendant of the Collective Power Network (2019 to 2021) and formed out of the Green New Deal Slate (2021) that formed a governing coalition on the NPC with Socialist Majority Caucus for most of the 2021-2023 term. Participants in the national Green New Deal campaign who ran a slate for the NPC at the 2023 Convention officially declared they had become a caucus in 2024. It has sub-formations including Uniting to Win and the Los Angeleno “Sol.”

Groundwork supports a party surrogate strategy, focusing primarily on electoral and legislative campaigns. The caucus tends to favor broader progressive coalitions to win ecosocialist policies, and is relatively loose on elected discipline compared to most factions, in line with a general perspective of electoral representation and legislative organizing being the most impactful ways to build toward socialism. However, Groundwork is more explicit in favor of party-like elected discipline than the Socialist Majority Caucus and North Star.

Groundwork was one of two caucuses who most strongly prioritized maintaining funding for DSA staff over other spending during the 2024 budget crisis. Some of its members were involved in the Build Public Renewables Act campaign in New York, considered the largest Green New Deal and public renewables legislative victory in US history, although progress has stalled within the New York state government.

Groundwork members often indicate their membership on social media with the potted plant emoji (🪴), in reference to the caucus logo and its Green New Deal focus. Groundwork is firmly on the DSA right and claims 4 of the 17 seats on the NPC, including one of the DSA co-chairs. It has a smaller presence within YDSA.

Libertarian Socialist Caucus

Since 2017, the Libertarian Socialist Caucus (LSC) has united various libertarian socialists within DSA, including anarchists, libertarian Marxists, communalists, and Dutch-German left-communists. The caucus emphasizes a dual power framework that prioritizes “base building” in the form of campaigns to build militant labor and tenant unions, cooperatives, mutual aid societies, protests and direct action, and other democratic organizing.

LSC advocates for direct democracy, horizontal structure, and decentralization, as well as stricter elected discipline and anti-Zionism. This is reflected in their decentralization proposals at the 2021 DSA National Convention, their work in Milwaukee with the Lead Free MKE campaign for replacing lead pipes in the city, and their participation in Cooperation Milwaukee for cooperative and union development.

At one point, LSC was by far the largest caucus in DSA, but its membership numbers declined dramatically in 2019. In 2022, former and current LSC members formed the Horizon Federation, an organization meant to unite libertarian socialists inside and outside of DSA while maintaining LSC as a caucus within DSA. LSC’s Marxist wing has ideological overlaps with the Communist Caucus and Emerge, with some dual-card members of Emerge.

Members of LSC often indicate their membership on social media with the black flag emoji (🏴), representing a common symbol of libertarian socialism. Part of the DSA left, LSC no longer has representation on the NPC or NCC, but members still hold leadership positions at the chapter-level and nationally in both DSA and YDSA at the time of this writing.

Marxist Unity Group

A relatively recent addition to DSA, Marxist Unity Group (MUG) was founded in 2021 in adherence with an orthodox Marxist and democratic centralist ideology with various inspirations, including the Second International, the Bolsheviks, revolutionary abolitionists, Kautsky pre-renegade, and the SPD’s Erfurt Programme.

The caucus’s primary plank is the overthrow of the current American constitutional order and the foundation of a new democratic socialist republic, with a majoritarian democratic system in its place. MUG is committed to an oppositional electoral strategy, aiming to build socialist legislative blocs, operating under the democratic discipline of DSA’s membership and program, that use elected office to build support for socialism while committing to the abolition of institutions which limit popular democracy such as the Senate, the Electoral College, the Supreme Court, and the independent presidency. At the same time, it supports building a broad party-movement, with tenant and labor unions, cultural associations, and other independent working class organizations operating in the orbit of a socialist party.  While MUG calls for democratic centralist unity of action around a socialist party structure, it also supports the construction of a distinctly socialist consciousness within unions and a dirty break from the Democratic Party.

MUG has been particularly vocal about its support for stricter elected discipline and its hard lines against Zionism and decentralization. The online publication Cosmonaut is associated with MUG, and the caucus also has strong relations with the UK publications Prometheus and Weekly Worker. Some of its members originated from the Marxist Center but its broad origins are diverse. On the NPC, it played a major role in opening the National Electoral Commission to mass membership, put forward the initial proposal for DSA to endorse protests against the Democratic National Convention, and supported the No Votes for Genocide movement in the 2024 Presidential election.

Members of MUG often indicate their membership on social media with a mug emoji (🍻 or 🍺), or the blue book emoji (📘), representing their book, Fight the Constitution: For a Democratic Socialist Republic, which describes the caucus’s politics in greater detail. MUG is on the DSA left and occupies 2 NPC seats and 1 NCC seat.

Mass Action Caucus

The Mass Action Caucus (MAC), locally named the Red Clover Caucus, was a caucus active from 2022 to 2024, unique for its platform for realignment of the Progressive Party in Vermont. MAC pursued an electoral vision that departed from both SMC and Tempest in their respective aims for very loose and very strict endorsement standards, reflecting an outlook that more closely resembled that of Groundwork or the more moderate wing of BnR. The caucus revived CVDSA from previous collapse by reactivating an initial core of socialist organizers around its platform, and formed the UVM YDSA chapter.

The caucus became defunct due to lack of interest, with many members joining Groundwork. Though its short lifespan makes it challenging to precisely classify, it is often thought as part of the right-wing of DSA, particularly due to its members' subsequent affiliations.

Mass Work

The Mass Work Caucus is a revolutionary socialist caucus influenced by Maoist thought, established in Twin Cities DSA, in November 2024. While the caucus is still in its incipient stages, its Points of Unity indicate uncompromising support for de-siloization of distinct areas of struggle within DSA, grounding electoral and labor work in a mass communist struggle, and promoting degrowth, self-determination, and decolonization as core elements of their ideology. They additionally express support for "immediate … organiz[ing] for an explicit break from the Democratic Party" in favor of a communist party of the working class. Mass Work is on the DSA left, but its precise role has yet to be seen.

North Star

North Star (NS) is a small national caucus created in 2018, descending from the Unity Through Diversity Slate (2017) and the pre-2016 Harringtonite popular front consensus. As a result, North Star typically aligns itself with social democratic or progressive liberal organizations.

The caucus strongly advocates for realignment and popular front strategies, seeing them as the most pragmatic route to socialism. North Star is controversial among other caucuses, including more moderate ones, because of its defense of elected officials’ votes to break the 2022 rail strike and to fund Israel’s Iron Dome, its strong support of liberal candidates, perceived hostility toward other members on its official accounts, its critique of anti-Zionist slogans, and its nebulous positions on international issues.

Although it is often stereotyped as consisting of mostly older members following a very reformist and especially electoral program, the caucus claims to have no particular line. It is also skeptical of the existence of caucuses within DSA, finding them to create excessive divisions or to house ultraleftist tendencies. North Star is the most right-leaning caucus within DSA, clearly distinguishing itself from others on the DSA right, and has minimal involvement with YDSA.

Red Labor

Red Labor was a small Boise-based caucus that was formed in 2020 and dissolved in late 2024. The caucus was relatively unique in its urge for a clean break from the Democratic Party and the immediate creation of a new socialist party, including active efforts to do so in Idaho. Red Labor believed in strong democratic centralism with critiques remaining internal in order to foster socialist unity. Members of Red Labor included Trotskyists, De Leonists, Maoists, and Marxist–Leninists. They did not hold any NPC or NCC seats, but they did have a notable presence in Boise DSA and Boise State YDSA.

The caucus voted to disband in late 2024 as they had decided against continuing to organize as an independent caucus. According to former leadership, significant segments of Red Labor will be joining adjacent caucuses or remain uncaucused in the immediate term; but many former members maintain a commitment to moving as a bloc in the future.

Red Line

Red Line is a small East Coast coalition of revolutionary Marxists in DSA, including members with and without caucus affiliations, and seeks to support revolutionary socialists broadly in internal DSA elections, regardless of tendency (including non-Marxists, such as anarchists). It primarily seeks to build a militant labor movement and an independent socialist party via dirty or clean break, explicitly denouncing the realignment strategy. The group formed in 2023 and recently put on a call for DSA chapters to use Single Transferable Vote to elect delegates to the National Convention.

Red Star

Red Star (RS) is a national Marxist–Leninist caucus, formerly limited to San Francisco, that formed in 2019. Red Star members previously classified themselves simply as scientific socialists and revolutionary Marxists, but more recently they have formulated more explicit politics around Marxism–Leninism.

Red Star is the direct successor of Refoundation (2017) in San Francisco, with a small but notable segment of members coming from the Collective Power Network (2019 to 2021). They are generally considered to be on the DSA left but have also had major disagreements with other left factions over issues such as budget cuts and staff layoffs in 2024. Red Star opposes both horizontalism and autocracy, advocating for big tent socialist organizing with a central pole agitating for revolutionary Marxism within a democratic workers’ party. The caucus supports strong elected discipline under a party surrogate model while explicitly opposing third campism. Red Star members tend to be more favorable toward “Actually Existing Socialist” states than other caucuses.

San Francisco DSA has seen significant Red Star involvement in various campaigns, such as the push for a vacancy tax and for the unionization of Anchor Brewing. Red Star also initiated the Good Governance Pledge in 2023 through which various factions pledged for transparency, accountability, democratic conduct, and behavioral discipline. Their publication, Zenith, is where Red Star members often share their perspectives on DSA issues and where the caucus may publish its position statements.

Red Star claims 3 out of 17 seats on the NPC, including one of the DSA co-chairs.

Reform and Revolution

Reform and Revolution (R&R or RnR) is a Trotskyist caucus formed in 2019 by former members of Socialist Alternative, the largest Trotskyist party in the US, who defected due to perceived sectarianism. Like SAlt, R&R is related to the Grantite tendency within Trotskyism but it also makes notable departures.

The caucus emphasizes a dirty break from the Democratic Party to form a new socialist party, as well as a rank-and-file labor strategy, democratic central planning of the economy, some third campist positions, and transitional politics. Unlike BnR, R&R continues to follow a clearly Trotskyist line today, although it diverges from Socialist Alternative in supporting rank-and-file organizing over red unionism, declaring support for a one-state solution in Palestine, not practicing democratic centralism, supporting a dirty break rather than a clean break, and conditional favorability toward AOC. R&R notably opposes military aid to Ukraine, unlike Solidarity and similar Trotskyist tendencies, as well as US sanctions on Russia, unlike BnR. Its members have been involved in the Seattle campaigns for Kshama Sawant and the $15 minimum wage. R&R’s dominant politics most closely resemble BnR’s left, but they also have strong relations with MUG particularly due to some shared perspectives around party building. R&R has relative internal diversity compared to many other caucuses, as its minority "old guard" and majority "new guard" often hold distinct views, such as on the precise details of their perspectives on elected discipline and Palestine, with the former perhaps being more moderate.

R&R members often use a box emoji (📦) on social media to identify themselves as part of the “Trot box,” a reference to Red Star’s 2023 NPC endorsement graphic which grouped MUG, BnR, and R&R—all of which have some degree of Trotskyist influence—together under “party building." R&R is generally considered to be on the DSA left but less so than other left caucuses, as it tends to align with BnR on internationalism and holds a more moderate stance on elected discipline and internally-oriented anti-Zionist resolutions. The caucus has seen significant recent growth in both DSA and YDSA, recently gaining an NCC seat in YDSA.

Socialist Alternative

Socialist Alternative (SAlt) is a Trotskyist international in the Grantite tradition with a section in the United States and is the largest Trotskyist party in the country. While it has existed since 1998, it began openly entering into DSA around 2020 in an attempt to expand favorability toward Trotskyism broadly and push DSA toward a clean break from the Democrats. It has been especially vocal for elected discipline within DSA but since 2023 has gone largely quiet. Socialist Alternative is likely the largest instance of entryism into DSA, albeit other Trotskyist parties have attempted to do the same with much less success. SAlt is on the DSA left, but appears to be fading into obscurity within DSA, especially after a recent major split that included its most high-profile member, former Seattle Councilwoman and dual-card DSA member Kshama Sawant, due to internal conflict over organizational democracy and various political issues.

Socialist Majority Caucus

Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC) is a moderate and reformist caucus focused on electoral organizing since 2018. SMC is aligned somewhere between a party surrogate and realignment strategy, and supports a slightly looser discipline of elected officials than Groundwork. Likewise, SMC was also part of the former governing coalition in the NPC for most of the 2021-2023 term.

SMC is generally aligned with Groundwork on most issues, the primary distinction being that SMC focuses less on Green New Deal legislation in its actual organizing. Most of its activity involves canvassing and phonebanking for DSA-endorsed candidates for public office, seeing a reformist focus as the most practical route to moving toward socialism today and bringing mass appeal to DSA via electoral representation. SMC represents 2 out of 17 seats on the NPC and is on the DSA right.

Tempest Collective

The Tempest Collective largely descends from former members of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) and Solidarity, similar to BnR. Tempest is a Trotskyist publication with a focus on rank-and-file labor organizing, elected discipline, and third campist internationalism. While most members now work outside DSA, their presence was once strong in the Madison DSA chapter.

Winter Caucus

The Winter Caucus is a minor caucus that consists largely of former members of the Class Unity Caucus. The caucus favors Marxism but strongly opposes “identity politics.” The caucus believes in the primacy of class over other struggles in socialist organizing and has called for a moratorium on federal endorsements until DSA can build strong mechanisms of elected discipline.

The Winter Caucus is vocally in favor of a dirty break from the Democratic Party. They are considered part of the DSA left but differ from most caucuses in their opposition to intersectionality as a legal theory and a "shorthand for placing all forms of oppression on an equal plane as class exploitation." In particular, they see this understanding of intersectionality as divisive to the working class or in conflict with Marxism. Winter Caucus members are identifiable by the snowflake emoji (❄️) on social media. The Winter Caucus has some activity in DSA and YDSA, but it is not currently as influential as its predecessor.

Notable issues and events within DSA and YDSA

Anti-Zionist organizing

Since the 2017 DSA Convention, DSA has officially endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) and expressed opposition to Zionism as a racist, colonial, and apartheid ideology and movement. DSA has been particularly active in the movement for Palestinian liberation, especially since October 2023,  including by leading major protests across the country and primary campaigns for “Uncommitted” as a protest vote for a ceasefire in Gaza. DSA-endorsed federal electeds Rashida Tlaib (MI-02) and Cori Bush (MO-01) led the effort for a ceasefire in Gaza within Congress, with 18 co-sponsors and 86 total supporters of a ceasefire. Some electeds represented DSA at protests themselves, including Tlaib and Bush to some extent, but especially certain officials like Zohran Mamdani (NY-36, State House) and Jabari Brisport (NY-25, State Senate), who were arrested on multiple occasions for protesting, with Mamdani also participating in a prolonged hunger strike at the White House in late 2023, an effort coordinated by a variety of pro-Palestine organizations.

At the 2024 YDSA Convention, DSA’s youth section made several substantial changes to its stance on Palestine after nearly a year of many chapters putting themselves at the center of militant protests and encampment organizing, usually alongside organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. Some of these changes included overwhelming approval for censures of DSA members in office Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nithya Raman for undermining pro-Palestine organizing and showing support for Zionism, a process for expulsion of Zionists who have consistently opposed Palestinian liberation as well as a mechanism for restoration of former Zionists, and national infrastructure to support chapters organizing in the following year while formally endorsing a democratic and multinational one-state solution in Palestine. Other resolutions that more narrowly passed include one that calls to prepare for a national student strike for Palestine, and another that sets standards for endorsing candidates and declares YDSA’s official position to be “No Votes for Genocide,” with the latter passing by a single vote.

However, DSA was neither always anti-Zionist nor has its recent dealings with the rest of the Palestine solidarity movement been smooth sailing. Because DSA largely followed the politics of its founder Michael Harrington, until around 2016, outdated documents from DSA were often rife with allusions to “Israel’s right to exist,” a Zionist talking point, and a full rejection of anything outside of a two-state solution. Harrington’s labor Zionism dominated the organization until the organization grew past its historical 5,000-person membership rolls after 2016, as more diverse politics and typically younger socialists joined the organization en masse. While the two-state solution is not an entirely uncommon position within DSA, particularly among less active members, the organization has increasingly approached consensus for a one-state solution, in contrast to its history as an explicitly Zionist organization.

DSA has become more militant on anti-Zionism with time, beginning with the 2017 shift in favor of BDS and against Zionism and leading up to later struggles involving elected discipline when some DSA-endorsed electeds failed to align with anti-Zionist principles. As a result of the latter issue, various chapters and the youth section have expressed clearer positions against Zionism within the organization, and more militant anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine organizing actions.

In 2021, DSA faced some of its strongest internal struggles after then-endorsed Congressman Jamaal Bowman supported providing additional military aid to Israel and met with far-right Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on a trip organized by J Street, a liberal Zionist organization. As this violated DSA’s anti-Zionist and pro-BDS platform, these actions ignited strong debates about the role of elected discipline in the socialist movement, with many DSA members and the National Political Committee condemning Bowman’s actions and unendorsing him. Those on the DSA right often argued against strong immediate discipline due to Bowman’s large platform and in hopes of working with Bowman’s office to improve his positions on Palestine; on the other hand, the DSA left typically argued in favor of strong immediate discipline, potentially including expulsion from the organization, as a show of support for pro-Palestine solidarity and organizing and establishing standards for those representing DSA to the public. The controversy reached a climax in March 2022, when the NPC narrowly voted to de-charter the national BDS Working Group and temporarily ban its leadership from other positions due to accusations of disruptive and uncomradely behavior, a decision later reversed after substantial backlash from members and other leftist and Palestinian liberation organizations. Since then, some argue that Bowman has become more supportive of restricting support to the State of Israel, describing it as an apartheid regime; however, by his run for re-election in 2024, others maintained that his positions had not substantially improved, particularly due to his lack of an apology, his continued support for “Israel’s right to exist” and continued harms to DSA’s standing within the movement. Notably, many repudiated an accusation made by Bowman that critics within DSA were involved with a COINTELPRO-type scheme. These divides are apparent, for example, in New York City DSA’s decision to endorse his 2024 re-election campaign in contrast to national DSA’s lack of the same.

In addition to issues with Bowman, a great amount of skepticism has grown around DSA’s most well-known member, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, following October 2023. In particular, many on the DSA left argued that she was likewise harming DSA’s organizing for Palestine due to her often publicly rejecting DSA statements on Palestinian liberation, including supporting “defensive” military aid to Israel, platforming Zionist lobbyists as “experts” on antisemitism, and speaking against some protests which challenged Israel’s “right to self-defense” on occupied territory. By New York City DSA’s request, the NPC considered national re-endorsement of AOC close to the primary election date, ultimately passing a conditional endorsement which required her to improve her stances on Palestinian liberation, much to the dismay of both left members who sought her full disendorsement and right members who sought an endorsement without conditions. In a surprise turn of events, the New York City chapter then successfully requested for the conditional endorsement to be rescinded, claiming that they had not obtained permission from AOC’s office to apply for a national endorsement. It should be noted that some members on the DSA left believe that this move was actually meant to avoid necessary confrontation with AOC on Palestinian solidarity, while those more favorable toward NYC DSA or AOC tended to agree that it was an honest error.

Despite these internal struggles on how to enforce DSA’s anti-Zionist principles, DSA has been a key player in various organizing projects to advance Palestinian liberation. YDSA, in particular, has been widely involved in university-based encampment organizing to exert strong pressure on university administrators to divest from the Zionist state. DSA has also led or co-led major protests numbering in the hundreds or thousands across the country, pushed public legislation in favor of divestment from Israel, supported labor unions leveraging their labor power to directly challenge investments in Israel, and more. Some universities have already won major concessions, such as the University of Oregon, California State University, University of Minnesota, and others.

Budget crisis

By: John L, DSA Treasurer
Editor: Bryce S, Princeton YDSA

DSA faced a serious budget crisis in 2024, primarily driven by a combination of declining membership renewals and increased expenditures on staff and other spending over previous NPC terms. Concerns about DSA’s finances had been regularly reported by rank and file DSA members across tendencies via the DSA Observer (2021) and the Washington Socialist (2023). In previous years, due to DSA’s rapid growth, the organization was able to collect substantial savings for future spending; however, this ultimately led to a projected deficit of around $2.4 million once DSA’s income had stopped increasing. The severity of the budget crisis was not apparent for a while, but the DSA Treasurer, part of the NPC, demonstrated through the most updated metrics available that the deficit was projected to reach such an unsustainable level that it would lead to the shutdown of the organization by 2025 unless further action was taken. What followed was an extended struggle between caucuses and interest groups regarding the steps to be taken.

Overall, the DSA left generally favored cuts to staff, which had by far become the largest expense over the previous couple of years, rather than cuts to other spending such as dues shares to chapters, stipends for elected leadership, subsidies for YDSA, and other spending. On the other hand, the DSA right generally aligned with the DSA Union in attempting to minimize layoffs as much as possible by prioritizing cuts to other spending. Red Star occasionally aligned with the right on some budget questions, often favoring compromise measures in order to quickly resolve the growing spending issues.

A History of Financial Strain

As DSA is a member-funded grassroots organization, its financial viability fluctuates with the number of members the organization has; thus, from the organization's founding, it has faced multiple fiscal crises when membership numbers have dipped. During the founding merger of DSA between the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM), it was discovered that DSOC was 1 million dollars in debt.

DSA’s first financial crisis came in 1988, and its number of staff were reduced from 6 to 5. A rebound happened in the early 1990s as DSA doubled its number of members to 10,000. Yet, by 1997, the National Director couldn’t give a financial report to the National Convention, leading to the creation of the Secretary-Treasurer role, later split into separate Secretary and Treasurer roles.

The early 2000s saw DSA’s funds fall even lower. By 2004, DSA could only fund 2 staff positions (National Director and Youth Organizer), and both of these positions had to go on unemployment assistance. The Budget and Finance committee worked with them to put out requests for dues and funding from membership. The organization was only able to post the position for National director again in 2009, after donor Marianne Wells passed away and left a significant sum to the organization.

DSA hired its longest tenured National Director in 2011, Maria Svart, and its membership returned to its late 80s numbers of around 5,400. DSA had its first surplus in almost 20 years in 2015. Starting in 2017, DSA’s membership exploded during this period, leading us to the present era.

Rising Tension

As the DSA 100k Recruitment Drive without the organization reaching 100k financial or constitutional members, signs of membership decline were beginning to show in 2021. The renewal rate of lapsed and constitutional members far undershot the amount needed to retain other methods that were sought to shore up income for our member-driven organization. DSA’s finances and membership numbers were unclear to members and there was uncertainty about the actual fiscal position of the organization.

Tensions rose in the run-up to the 2023 convention, as warnings of a fiscal crisis loomed. Although not everyone believed the organization would truly reach a crisis, others reacted by trying to increase dues amount per member, with monthly dues and income-based "Solidarity Dues," alongside recommitment drives. Despite this, DSA’s active membership dwindled to closer to around 53,000 by 2024. Ultimately, the 2023-2025 NPC set about examining the issues as DSA’s Finance Director resigned just before the 2023 convention. The new NPC Treasurer organized weekly meetings for the Budget & Finance Committee and openly shared all of DSA’s financial data for the first time with the Open Budgeting Proposal. After DSA’s finance staff produced a draft operating budget, it was found that expenses exceeded income by more than $2.4 million.

Crisis Upon Us

In its December meetings, the Budget & Finance Committee deferred several large items to the NPC. Items put on the table included cutting dues share, permanently closing the national office, ending Democratic Left, cutting the National Harassment and Grievance Officer early, cutting member-organizing funds, a travel freeze, ending all in-person meetings, and a hiring freeze. Budget & Finance cut $268,000 of items and deferred the larger items to the NPC due to the nature of the impact. The first round of cuts summed to $1.09 million across 78 line items, with many reduced to zero including most stipends, the closure of four open staff positions and two internships, a hiring freeze, a travel and event freeze including in-person YDSA conventions, ending the NHGO contract early (alone costing $30k per month), closure of the national office, and a technology audit. All earmarked fundraising was frozen with the exception of the Labor Solidarity Fund. Still, these cuts only covered less than half of the $2.4 million dollar deficit.

During this time, the DSA Staff Union's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was finalized, approving a $2,000 raise for all staff. At the February meeting, another round of cost reductions included chapter dues share, CBA-aligned layoffs, and a third budget freeze of the year. During this time, both the Operations Director and National Director resigned, and two other staff members were promoted to Operations Director and Finance Director, respectively. Three staff positions left vacant from this process were frozen. The NPC cut an additional $273k which included Democratic Left, all non-YDSA stipends, 14.5% of DSA Co-Chairs' wages, and some national committee funds. As the NPC moved into layoff negotiations, an additional $400,000 dollars was added to the 2024 income largely from members switching to solidarity dues. Even these measures, still, left a rolling deficit.

Four unionized staff and one director were ultimately laid off, following layoff bargaining. The tech manager and several staff members resigned to retain staffers with less tenure. In total, 12 staff positions and 2 intern positions were left vacant, leaving the budget in May 2024 at a small surplus of $5,799. This surplus further grew due to quarterly budget adjustments and the passing of another member who left a bequest in the range of six figures.

DSA still had a looming issue, however, as the convention typically caused a large deficit -$500k during the years it was held. As had been the norm, DSA would typically try to run a surplus in the off-years to be able to afford convention, but with the 2024 budget close to balanced, questions still remained for odd years. Alongside this, DSA’s membership numbers continued to decline, albeit at a slower rate.

Ultimately, the budget crisis boiled down to unclear finances and unclear membership numbers, which led to issues when DSA’s membership fluctuated. Most members and leaders of DSA were unaware of prior layoffs and financial crises, let alone that they happened multiple times. The key task remains: developing, retaining and recruiting socialists. Comrades are what allow the organization to exist.

Salting and student unionism

Across many DSA chapters, organizing such as salting key workplaces – whether to form new, militant unions or to radicalize existing ones via democratic reform – is a major priority, with the goal being to build institutions that can build working-class power and increasingly challenge capitalism. While much of the work that DSA members do in terms of labor work is focused on supporting unions, as has been the case in recent years with auto workers in the United Automotive Workers (UAW), UPS workers in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and Starbucks workers in Workers United, there is also substantial direct activity on shop floors. To some extent, DSA members have salted workplaces such as Amazon, Starbucks, public schools, and others across the country with these goals in mind.

Several YDSA chapters across the United States have also worked to develop undergraduate unions at their universities over the last couple of years. One of particular note is the University of Oregon YDSA chapter, which won the largest undergraduate workers’ union in the United States in October 2023 with 97% of the vote, covering more than 4,900 student workers in a wall-to-wall campaign. The union is now negotiating its first contract with the University. Other major successful student workers’ unions led by YDSA include the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth and the Columbia University Resident Advisors Collective, with YDSA also being involved with the Wesleyan Union of Student Employees. Other public drives with YDSA involvement include the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee, the California State Student Workers Union, and the Macalester Undergraduate Workers Union.

Build Public Renewables Act

After four years of leadership by DSA chapters in New York state, the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) successfully passed as the largest and most prominent public renewable energy legislative victory in U.S. history. With strong provisions for rapidly expanding publicly-owned renewable electricity, unionized public jobs, electricity price discounts, and closures of fossil fuel plants, the BPRA campaign was initiated and led by New York DSA chapters (and coordinated with elected DSA officials in the state legislature through Socialists in Office committee activity). It demonstrated perhaps the most significant ecological legislative victory in the U.S. socialist movement.

The effort began in late 2019 with the Public Power NY campaign by the ecosocialist working group of the New York City chapter of DSA in response to rising electricity rates and declining electricity access by the private electricity provider ConEd. The failures of ConEd resulted from its neglect of infrastructure upgrades for which it received subsidies, along with its extensive lobbying efforts against regulations and renewable energy development. Public Power NY connected with the community through town halls and canvassing, finding a need for strengthened public utilities to replace private utilities—not just for higher quality service and environmental benefit, but even for economic efficiency and fiscal responsibility.

At that point, the campaign expanded beyond New York City to go statewide by working with socialist state legislators, which led to expanding socialist representation, moratoriums on shutoffs, and cancellations of debts. This also enabled the drafting of the BPRA, which was formed with input from DSA and labor groups to include language for both public renewables and strong labor benefits. The BPRA ultimately passed in 2023, giving the New York Power Authority much stronger requirements to build public renewables and close fossil fuel plants when private electricity companies inevitably fail to keep up with aggressive climate goals. The campaign also provided decent public union jobs.

However, progress on implementation of the BPRA has been delayed by slow enforcement of public construction of renewable energy infrastructure, and as the dominant liberal and market-centered politics of New York have held back the intended radical effects. The next steps in the project are currently unclear as DSA members in New York attempt to find new ways to pressure toward public renewables via this legislation. Some in DSA who are more favorable to degrowth politics have pointed to the stalling of the BPRA’s implementation as evidence of legislative campaigns not being the ideal praxis for ecosocialist organizing, instead favoring the construction of counterpower infrastructure outside of the capitalist state in hopes of more revolutionary changes in the long-run. Those more favorable to Green New Deal politics often see these setbacks as expected roadblocks that only call for continued BPRA organizing and pressure campaigns.

International delegations

The DSA International Committee (IC) has engaged in notable international delegations, forming relationships with socialist and resistance groups globally. In recent years, DSA delegations have visited Okinawa, Japan, where they platformed and showed solidarity with local activists opposing US military expansion on the island. Delegates have also engaged with Cuban socialists to learn about their governance model and social welfare despite US sanctions, and to highlight DSA's fight for ending the US embargo on the country. The IC has organized election observation missions in Venezuela and Mexico, where delegates documented their findings to promote democratic practices and help protect voting rights.

Alongside DSA's membership in the São Paolo Forum and the Progressive International, these delegations and the IC's work allow for socialist parties in other countries to have wide awareness of DSA and engage in mutually beneficial forms of international cooperation. Smaller delegations have been spearheaded by various caucuses, such as to collaborate with Irish socialist parties and support their canvassing activities.

2024 YDSA Convention, YDSA NCC, and DSA NPC

The 2024 YDSA Convention was a unique convention in many respects. For one, never before had such substantial changes occurred in a single convention, whether in DSA or YDSA, as described in the previous subsection on anti-Zionist organizing. Secondly, two votes won or lost by just a single vote out of about 160 delegates, including R15: No Votes for Genocide (passed), and R22: Class Struggle Internationalism (failed). Thirdly, a major floor resolution titled “Rise Up For Rashida” was proposed only minutes after President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would drop out of the presidential race, which called on DSA-endorsed elected Rashida Tlaib to symbolically run for the Democratic presidential nomination, but in the long run aimed at encouraging YDSA and DSA to develop plans for platforming socialist politics in the 2028 presidential election. Fourthly, it was a virtual convention, unlike most conventions, due to the aforementioned budget cuts.

Overall, one could argue that the YDSA left largely “won,” as most of the resolutions they endorsed passed, while the resolutions related to internationalism and budget autonomy endorsed by BnR largely failed. R&R may not perfectly fit into the YDSA left or right, as R&R aligned with BnR on many resolutions; yet, they still were able to pass all of their proposed or endorsed resolutions.

Additionally, R&R won its first seat in either DSA or YDSA in winning an NCC seat, with MUG maintaining the seat it held in the previous term. Constellation secured three seats, including a co-chair, as did BnR. David L, a Marxist–Leninist independent involved in the UO Student Workers campaign and in leading anti-Zionist organizing in UO YDSA, likewise won a seat. However, other independents as well as LSC and Groundwork failed to win NCC seats. The previous NCC ended with three Constellation members (including a co-chair), four BnR members, one MUG member, and one independent co-chair. As such, this means that Constellation, MUG, and independent seats remained the same, but BnR lost a seat they previously held while R&R picked up a seat.

From left to right*:

• 1 Marxist Unity Group: Steven R
• 3 Constellation: Aron A (Co-Chair), Callynn J, Sean B
• 1 independent Marxist–Leninist with UO Student Workers: David L
• 1 Reform and Revolution: Daniel S-C
• 3 Bread and Roses: Carlos C (Co-Chair), Jeffrey C, Uma C

The YDSA Conventions have no direct effect on DSA, apart from the YDSA co-chairs each having a half vote on the 17-seat NPC. The NPC thus remains largely unchanged from prior to the 2024 YDSA Convention, with a half seat which was formerly independent having been replaced by a BnR half seat.

From left to right*:

• 2 Marxist Unity Group: Rashad X and Amy W (Secretary)
• 3 Red Star: Megan R (Co-Chair), John L (Treasurer), Sam H
• 1 Anti-Zionist Slate: Ahmed H
• 1 independent Chavista in the International Committee orbit: Luisa M
• ½ Constellation: Aron A (YDSA Co-Chair)
• 3 ½ Bread and Roses: Alex P, Kristin S, Laura W, and Carlos C (YDSA Co-Chair)
• 4 Groundwork: Ashik S (Co-Chair), Cara T, Frances G, and Rose D (Resigned 1/2025)
• 2 Socialist Majority Caucus: Colleen J and Renée P

Notably, due to Bread and Roses being the median member of the NPC, they often have disproportionate influence during the current term. However, Red Star has sometimes played this role instead when it comes to budget-related issues.

Within the National Political Committee, a Steering Committee of 6 seats has five of its seats chosen by the entire NPC, and the final seat is shared between the two YDSA co-chairs. The Steering Committee determines the general direction of what the broader NPC deals with, while also taking on additional roles to keep DSA running. This body is depicted below, but note that it is not as politically consequential as the broader NPC as a whole.

From left to right*:

• 1 Marxist Unity Group: Amy W
• 1 Red Star: Megan R (Co-Chair)
• ½ Constellation: Aron A (YDSA Co-Chair)
• 1 ½ Bread and Roses: Alex P and Carlos C (YDSA Co-Chair)
• 1 Groundwork: Ashik S (Co-Chair)
• 1 Socialist Majority Caucus: Renée P

* Although I attempted to order the seats according to their “left”-”right” stance in YDSA or DSA, the orders may be debatable.

2024 US elections

As in other years, DSA supported a multitude of candidates and ballot measures. Some of these efforts included fights for abortion rights and electoral campaigns with strong focuses on ending the genocide in Gaza and supporting working-class communities. DSA candidates gained several local and state seats, while endorsee Rashida Tlaib maintained her congressional seat in Michigan's 12th congressional district. Notably, however, Cori Bush lost her primary in Missouri's 1st congressional district after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee alone spent over $9 million to unseat her.

As noted in the section on anti-Zionist organizing, DSA endorsed "Uncommitted" for the Democratic presidential primary, alongside on-the-ground organizing for Palestinian liberation, ultimately seeing substantial protest votes. After the primary elections, however, DSA surveyed members on how the organization should respond to the 2024 presidential election. In particular, there were major debates between those who supported a "lesser of two evils" voting strategy, in a strategy aimed at defeating the right as a priority in its own right; and those who supported third party candidates as protest votes against both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's genocidal policies in Palestine, in a strategy aimed at building leverage for the Harris campaign to commit to an arms embargo on Israel. In particular, third party candidates often discussed among third party voters in DSA included Jill Stein of the Green Party, Cornel West of the Justice for All Party (and a longtime member of DSA), and Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Notably, YDSA and several DSA chapters committed to "No Votes for Genocide," although the debate between lesser evil voting and third party voting remains contentious within DSA and YDSA. While YDSA endorsed "No Votes for Genocide" and opposition to voting for either of the major presidential candidates, DSA ultimately maintained no official position on voting strategy in the 2024 elections beyond their candidate and ballot measure endorsements, and expressed strong opposition to both parties' genocidal politics.

Acknowledgements

Thank you for providing details that informed this guide: Syjil A (General edits, International Committee), Alex M (General edits), John L (Budget), Amber R (Public Power NY), Aron A-C (YDSA), Sean B (Constellation), Larkin C (Red Star), April M (Trotskyism), Ben L (Red Line, SAlt), Aaron L (Red Labor), Karry M (Caracol), Jorge R (International Committee, Emerge), Trey C (MAC), Tom J (Budget), Spencer M (Reform and Revolution), C.S. J (Libertarian Socialist Caucus), Isabel E (Mass Work), Anemone W (MUG, Tempest), Victoria B (Red Star); and, more broadly, various members and leaders of University of Oregon Student Workers, the Youth Labor Committee, Red Star, Emerge, Marxist Unity Group, Constellation, Reform and Revolution, Libertarian Socialist Caucus, Winter Caucus, and Mass Work. All caucuses noted in the factions section were contacted for input before the final version.

If you like this guide and agree with the LSC Points of Unity, you can join LSC here.

You can discuss this on the DSA National forums here.

Bryce S is a student organizer in Princeton YDSA, and a member of the Libertarian Socialist Caucus