Democratic Socialists of America

Democratic Socialists of America
AbbreviationDSA
Governing bodyNational Political Committee
National Co-ChairsMegan Romer
Ashik Siddique
National DirectorVacant
FounderMichael Harrington
FoundedMarch 20, 1982 (1982-03-20)
Merger ofDemocratic Socialist Organizing Committee
New American Movement
HeadquartersNew York City
NewspaperDemocratic Left
Socialist Forum
The Activist (youth wing publication)
Youth wingYoung Democratic Socialists of America
Membership (2025) 80,000[1]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[9] to far-left[15]
Regional affiliationSão Paulo Forum
(associate, since 2023)[16]
International affiliation
  • Progressive International (since 2023)[17]
  • Socialist International
    (1982–2017)[18]
Colors  Red
Website
dsausa.org

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest socialist organization. DSA is a big tent of socialists on the left-wing to far-left of the political spectrum, primarily under democratic socialism.[19][20] DSA formed in 1982 as a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). It has a decentralized structure, where local chapters and ideological caucuses have high autonomy.

DSA's stated goal is to participate in the workers' rights movement with a long-term aim of social ownership of production such as public enterprises, worker cooperatives, or decentralized planning.[21][22] At its founding, it supported grassroots social movements and progressives in the Democratic Party. DSA was a minor political force until the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-identified democratic socialist, after which its membership swelled from about 6,000 members in 2015 to more than 90,000 in 2021. These young new members shifted DSA to the left, away from its historically social democratic leadership and toward democratic socialist and other socialist ideologies.[23][24][25][26]

DSA is not a political party with a ballot line. Instead, with a long-term goal of establishing an independent socialist party, DSA engages in electoral politics by endorsing candidates who align with its values, including Democrats, Working Families, Greens, and independents. Particularly notable DSA elected officials include U.S. representatives Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York State Assembly member and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. In 2025, over 250 DSA members held elected public office, with 90% elected after 2019.[27] Some of its members in Congress have initiated various pieces of legislation central to the modern progressive movement in the United States, including the Medicare for All Act in 2003 by John Conyers[28] and the Green New Deal in 2019 by Ocasio-Cortez.[29] Former longtime members of the United States House of Representatives, including Conyers,[30] Ron Dellums,[30] House Whip David Bonior,[31] and Major Owens[32] have been affiliated with the DSA.

  1. ^ Elia-Shalev, Asaf (June 30, 2025). "Zohran Mamdani belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America, a leading critic of Israel. Here's what to know". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Barkan, Ross (June 15, 2022). "The Future of American Socialism is Local". Intelligencer. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Azizi, Arash (July 20, 2024). "The Left's Self-Defeating Israel Obsession". The Atlantic.
  5. ^ a b Porcelli, Victor (July 23, 2025). "Wins Pile Up for the New York Left". Gotham Gazette.
  6. ^ a b Koehler, Daniel, ed. (2021), "Who Are Extremist Side-Switchers and What Drives Them?: Toward a Theory of Motivations and Defector Life Cycles", From Traitor to Zealot: Exploring the Phenomenon of Side-Switching in Extremism and Terrorism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–243, doi:10.1017/9781108918626.007, ISBN 978-1-108-84294-5, retrieved June 7, 2025
  7. ^ a b Bergin, Brigid; Cruz, David (July 22, 2020). "Torres Declares Victory In Bronx Contest As Board Of Election Ballot Counting Continues". Gothamist.
  8. ^ a b Generic (November 3, 2020). "FBI warns of possible US election violence in protest-riven Portland". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  9. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  10. ^ a b Lauer, Hallie (November 9, 2023). "Sara Innamorato will lead Allegheny County as Pa. sees a growing number of women in top positions". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 7, 2025. with a progressive platform and backing from the far-left Democratic Socialists of America
  11. ^ a b Reisman, Nick (October 8, 2024). "Scandal wary voters may turn away from Cuomo, opposing camp warns". The Politico. Retrieved June 7, 2025. Azzopardi said, referring to the far-left Democratic Socialists of America.
  12. ^ a b Kim, Catherine (July 11, 2023). "The left goes to war with itself". The Politico. Infighting within DSA chapters is making headlines across the country — a sign that the far-left faction of the progressive wing may be fracturing as the result of its success.
  13. ^ a b Sterne, Peter (July 12, 2024). "The real story behind DSA's decision to unendorse AOC". City & State. Within DSA, everyone is on the far left, but some are further left than others.
  14. ^ a b Alterman, Eric (July 13, 2024). "The Democratic Socialists of America rebuked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over Zionism — and proved their own irrelevance". The Forward. Clearly there is not a lot of strategic thinking going on the far left today. As DSA's choice regarding Ocasio-Cortez tells us, what really concerns them is political purity.
  15. ^ [10][11][12][13][14]
  16. ^ Kerson, Roger (September 21, 2021). "Democratic Socialists of America Make a Strategy for the Biden Era". In These Times.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference progint was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference socint was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  20. ^ [10][11][12][13][14]
  21. ^ Robinson, Nathan J. (December 10, 2019). Why You Should be a Socialist. ISBN 9781250200877.
  22. ^ Stewart, Emily (March 13, 2020). "What Bernie Sanders's movement does now". Vox. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference TruthoutWeaver2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference :14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference :15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Stuart, Tessa (August 7, 2025). "Dem Socialists Convene in Chicago to Chart Future After Mamdani's Win". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025.
  28. ^ H.R. 676
  29. ^ Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria (April 21, 2021). "Text - H.Res.332 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal". www.congress.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  30. ^ a b Margolis, Jon (March 14, 1983). "Bernie of Burlington". newrepublic.com. The New Republic. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  31. ^ Green, David (March 2015). "DSA Hosts Book Signing Event for Bonior Memoir" (PDF). Democratic Socialists of America. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  32. ^ Borenstein, Marsha (November 2013). "Major R. Owens, the People's Congressman (1936-2013)". Retrieved December 9, 2019.
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