An Introduction to the Internal Politics of DSA

No discussion of the socialist movement in the United States can go without talking about the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). DSA has firmly established itself as the largest socialist organization in the country in the last century, exploding from 5,000 members in 2016 to 95,000 in 2021. DSA has captured the attention of a new generation, embracing diverse approaches to advancing a range of socialist ideals. Despite facing a decline in membership since the presidential election of Joe Biden, DSA is still experiencing its most vibrant and impactful phase, spearheading successful campaigns in the realms of legislation, base-building, mass protest, and direct action.

With its victories in organizing for militant labor unions, tenant unions, social housing, reproductive rights, the largest public renewable energy victory in U.S. history, and more, DSA holds a central position of power within the contemporary socialist movement, even for those outside of the organization. The internal politics and decisions of DSA and its youth section, the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), thus play a crucial role in determining the direction of not only the organization itself, but also of the broader socialist movement.

While the majority of work in the organization happens at the local level in 209 official DSA chapters and 108 official YDSA chapters, questions about broader priorities and the distribution of resources within the organization are primarily relevant to the national-level internal politics of DSA. This article therefore focuses on the national level.

Key terminology

Understanding DSA’s internal politics necessitates familiarity with key terms referring to certain organizing and theoretical strategies.

• The party question:
  • Dirty break: The dirty break strategy, the dominant position in DSA, proposes a tactical use of the Democratic Party ballot line based on current prevailing political conditions. However, the goal is to build an independent socialist party over time that can effectively challenge the political duopoly in the U.S. and effectively organize the working class.
  • Party surrogate: This strategy involves DSA operating as a faction within the Democratic Party. Advocates of this approach focus on cultivating disciplined candidates and an independent infrastructure, with the aim of building a distinctly socialist political power.
  • Clean break: This strategy advocates for DSA to immediately break from the Democratic Party and exclusively use a third-party ballot line instead. Supporters of the clean break argue that authentic working-class independence can only be achieved by completely and immediately severing ties with the structures of the political establishment.
  • Realignment: The realignment strategy involves working within the Democratic Party to shift its platform and policies to the left. Supporters of the realignment strategy tend to prefer flexibility with elected officials’ discipline.
• Internal governance:
  • National Political Committee (NPC): The highest body within DSA outside of the biannual DSA National Conventions, elected by delegates chosen by the local chapters and with seventeen seats.
  • National Coordinating Committee (NCC): The highest body within YDSA, outside of the annual YDSA National Conventions, elected by delegates chosen by the local chapters and with nine seats.
  • Working group or commission: A national autonomous group recognized by DSA which focuses on coordinating and mobilizing around a specific issue, such as the International Committee, the Housing Justice Commission, the National Labor Commission, the Afrosocialists Caucus, the Queer Socialists Working Group, and more. There are currently more than a dozen of these in DSA, as well as others specific to YDSA.
  • National staff: Thirty-three unionized employees of DSA who are hired by the NPC to support the democratically-decided national goals, as well as local chapters. Staff do not set the organization’s goals, but instead help the volunteer members of the NPC, NCC, working groups, and commissions in fulfilling their goals.
  • Caucus: An informal faction within DSA, typically with a particular ideological tendency, theory of organizing, or political priority. Caucuses coordinate events among their members, make Convention proposals related to their priorities, and put forth national body candidates. Sometimes, there are slates of candidates that act similarly to caucuses by marking a distinct faction but may not adopt a caucus-like structure with members and permanent activities.
• Rank-and-file labor strategy: The rank-and-file labor strategy involves socialist organizers entering the labor movement as shop-floor workers rather than union staff. This approach focuses on agitating for militant activity against bosses and union bureaucracies, democratizing labor unions, and developing organic labor leaders from the rank-and-file. It is distinguished from both red unionism, which requires exclusively socialist leadership in labor organizing, and business unionism, which refers to concessionary, non-militant labor organizing.
• Green New Deal: A general term for public policy that secures a just transition centered on working-class needs, toward decarbonization, demilitarization, and decommodification of energy systems and resources in favor of democratic control. The term was popularized by the anti-capitalist Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in his 2010 New York governor race, and by DSA member and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as part of her political platform since 2018.

Caucuses and slates

Internal debates in DSA are often driven by the various caucuses and slates, each advocating for distinct organizing theories, ideologies, and political priorities. Some groups (such as the Trotskyist parties Socialist Alternative and Socialist Revolution) are independent groups rather than caucuses, but notably have engaged in substantial entryism to influence the overall politics of DSA. A minor note is that the Afrosocialists “Caucus” happens to be a misnomer, as it is in fact a working group; therefore, Afrosocialist Caucus members are members of many different caucuses.

“Left” factions

Anti-Zionist Slate

The Anti-Zionist Slate (AZ) emerged as a group of National Political Committee candidates for the 2023 DSA National Convention, dedicated to advancing the cause of Palestinian liberation. Their focus on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and Palestine reflects their commitment to building DSA’s relationships and actions around this critical issue, and to fostering a strong discipline of elected officials. Although anti-Zionism is not a unique stance within DSA—in fact, the vast majority of DSA members and the DSA platform support such a position—the Anti-Zionist Slate makes anti-Zionism and Palestinian liberation a centerpiece of socialist organizing and broadly adopts a revolutionary socialist stance.

Bread and Roses

The Bread and Roses (BnR) caucus, born in 2019 and descending from the pre-2016 Left Caucus, prioritizes a Marxist “democratic road to socialism” through rank-and-file labor organizing. They want a dirty break from the Democratic Party and the creation of a new socialist party, focusing on building a representative democratic system with participatory characteristics while rejecting horizontalism. They tend to be considered closer to the “center” of DSA, but are usually included in the “left wing.”

Constellation Caucus

A YDSA-specific caucus formed in 2023, the Constellation Caucus focuses on building the internal infrastructure of both DSA and YDSA. Their goal is to promote diversity, limit increases to national DSA spending, regulate caucuses to prioritize building internal democracy, and form a unified strategy to coordinate with DSA-endorsed elected officials and construct a socialist mass party.

Communist Caucus

The Communist Caucus (CC) is a left-communist and autonomist Marxist caucus, describing itself as a big tent communist caucus that prioritizes base-building through militant labor and tenant organizing. Rejecting bureaucracy and top-down organizing, they emphasize creating centers of power independent of the state to challenge capitalism such as militant labor unions, tenant unions, and workers’ associations. Their work has led to the creation of the Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC) out of the DSA’s Housing Justice Commission, which helps support tenant organizers.

Libertarian Socialist Caucus

The Libertarian Socialist Caucus (LSC), founded in 2017, unites people of distinct libertarian socialist ideologies, such as anarchists, autonomist Marxists, and communalists. The caucus emphasizes a dual-power framework that prioritizes base-building in the form of militant labor and tenant unions, cooperatives, mutual aid societies, and other autonomous democratic formations. LSC members advocate for direct democracy, horizontalism, and decentralization as well as elected discipline. 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 Cooperative Milwaukee for cooperative and union development. In 2022, LSC formed the Horizon Federation to unite libertarian socialists inside and outside of DSA while maintaining LSC as a caucus within DSA.

Marxist Unity Group

A recent addition to DSA, the Marxist Unity Group (MUG) was founded in 2022 to follow an orthodox Marxist and democratic centralist ideology inspired by the Second International, Lenin, and the Bolsheviks. Their primary plank is the overthrow of the current American constitutional order, and the foundation of a new socialist republic and majoritarian democracy. They call for party unity by having DSA members adhere to the organization’s platform through democratic centralism. Additionally, they support building a distinctly socialist consciousness in unions and a dirty break from the Democratic Party to create a new democratic socialist party.

Red Star

Red Star (RS), which started in San Francisco in 2019 but has since expanded into a national caucus, carries the banner of revolutionary Marxism and scientific socialism. They believe in a party surrogate electoral strategy, with the ultimate goal of building a socialist workers’ party (possibly DSA itself) to take state power. Interested in electoral politics more than other communist caucuses, they have also played a crucial role in initiating key campaigns. Such campaigns include the efforts in DSA San Francisco for a vacancy tax and to unionize Anchor Brewing, a historic brewery in the city which is now planning to transform into a worker-owned cooperative. Red Star is against both “excessive” centralization and horizontalism, advocating for big tent socialist organizing with a central pole agitating for revolutionary Marxism within a democratic workers’ party.

Reform and Revolution

Hailing from the Trotskyist tradition, the Reform and Revolution (R&R) caucus was formed in 2019 by former members of Socialist Alternative—the largest Trotskyist party in the U.S.—due to perceived sectarianism. The caucus emphasizes a dirty break from the Democratic Party to form a new socialist party, a rank-and-file labor strategy, stronger discipline among elected DSA officials, and centralized, democratic economic planning over alternatives such as worker cooperatives and decentralized workers councils. Its members have been notable in pushing for elected discipline and getting involved in campaigns such as the Kshama Sawant election and the fight for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle.

Emerge

Originating in New York City in 2018, Emerge is a local communist and autonomist Marxist caucus. While they believe in running socialists for office on either Democratic or third-party ballot lines, their core focus is building independent working-class institutions such as militant unions and councils. Participatory democracy, multi-tendency socialist organizing, and the rank-and-file labor strategy serve as cornerstones of their strategy.

Red Labor

A small caucus founded in Boise, Idaho in 2020, the Red Labor caucus stands for unity in the socialist movement through democratic centralism. They uniquely urge for a clean break from the Democratic Party and for the immediate creation of a new socialist party, similarly to members of Socialist Alternative and Socialist Revolution in DSA. They also want criticism to remain internal in order to foster unity. Members of Red Labor include self-described Trotskyists, De Leonists, Maoists, and Marxist–Leninists.

Tempest Collective

Composed of former members of the International Socialist Organization (ISO), the Tempest Collective is a Trotskyist publication with a focus on rank-and-file labor organizing, disciplined elected officials, and third campist internationalism. While some members work outside DSA, their presence is strong within the Madison DSA chapter, where they actively engage with DSA organizing efforts.

“Right” factions

Groundwork Slate

The Groundwork Slate (GW), rooted in reformist ecosocialism, is a slate of National Political Committee candidates in the orbit of the national Green New Deal campaign. It is often thought of as a descendant of the Green New Deal Slate in 2021 and the Collective Power Network. With a party surrogate strategy, they focus on electoral and legislative activities (especially those relevant to a Green New Deal), but they also support a rank-and-file labor strategy. They tend to favor forming broader progressive coalitions to win socialist policies, and they tend to be looser on elected discipline than other factions. Some of their members played a central role in the success of the Build Public Renewables Act in New York, the largest Green New Deal and public renewables victory in U.S. history.

Socialist Majority Caucus

The Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC) is a reformist socialist caucus focused on electoral organizing. They are somewhere between a party surrogate and realignment strategy, and share a similar emphasis on progressive coalitions and loose discipline of elected officials as the Groundwork Slate. Likewise, they were part of the former governing coalition of the National Political Committee for most of the 2021-2023 term, alongside the former Green New Deal Slate.

North Star

North Star (NS) is a small caucus largely influenced by pre-2016 DSA politics and older DSA members, which advocates for a firm realignment electoral strategy and mobilizes for non-socialist progressives and liberals. The caucus is particularly controversial among other caucuses (including other moderate caucuses) because they have defended elected officials’ votes to break the 2022 rail strike, have been more openly in favor of supporting liberal candidates, have nebulous positions on international issues, and have used their official platforms to engage with other caucuses in a hostile manner.

Notable issues and events within DSA and YDSA

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 Green New Deal 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 one of the most significant ecological victories 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.

Student unionism

Several YDSA chapters across the United States have worked to develop undergraduate unions at their universities over the last couple of years. One of particular note, YDSA members at the University of Oregon publicly announced a campaign in 2023 to form the largest undergraduate union in the United States—a wall-to-wall union including residential assistants, research assistants, dining hall staff, baristas, and other undergraduate workers. Though DSA has been involved in other labor organizing efforts (such as to “salt” and agitate for unionization and labor militancy on workfloors as employees, and to support workers’ efforts at Starbucks, UPS, and Ford, General Motors, and Crystler), this campaign marks a different type of labor organizing involving a historically ignored sector of workers. This effort involves addressing needs and creating democratic negotiations among a particularly young group—undergraduate students—who often face difficulties paying for tuition or food and planning their lives around work and academic schedules.

Employees and the union have faced difficulties due to employer harassment, wage theft, and illegal union-busting tactics, but organic student organizers have stepped up to form this democratically-run independent union of students. They had gathered signed union cards for recognition from 2,175 student workers out of 3,000 a few months ago, but had been delayed due to the university’s unfair labor practices and tactics to slow down the listing of all its student employees. Despite slowed progress toward official recognition, the union continued exerting pressure against the university, leading to improved wages in some jobs.

By October 2023, UO YDSA’s campaign was successful, winning official recognition of the largest undergraduate union in the country of more than 3,000 workers, with 97% of the vote. The union, UO Student Workers, is now on its way to militantly negotiating its first contract with the University of Oregon.

Bowman and BDS Working Group controversies

In 2021, DSA found itself entangled in controversies among members and leftist groups because of DSA member and U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman’s support of providing additional aid to the Israeli military and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on a trip organized by J Street. This violated DSA’s anti-Zionist and pro-BDS platform and ignited debates about the role of elected discipline in the socialist movement.

The National Political Committee and many DSA members condemned Bowman’s actions, calling for greater accountability of DSA elected officials. To take it a step further, some called for expelling Bowman from DSA while others called to keep his membership. The National Political Committee expressed that it would pull its endorsement of Bowman until he indicated genuine solidarity with Palestine, but chose not to expel him from the organization due to DSA engagement with his office and progress on his stances on Palestinian liberation.

The controversy reached a climax when, in March 2022, the National Political Committee narrowly voted to de-charter the BDS Working Group and temporarily ban its leadership from other positions due to accusations of disruptive and un-comradely behavior. This de-chartering decision was ultimately reversed after significant backlash from DSA members and other leftist and Palestinian liberation organizations, and the leadership suspension has since expired.

Since then, many have noted that Bowman has become more supportive of restricting support to the State of Israel, describing Israel as an apartheid regime. However, Greg Casar (another DSA member in Congress who has never been nationally endorsed) has come under some new controversy related to Palestinian liberation. Socialists in Office committees have been proposed and developed by many within the organization to formalize and strengthen infrastructure for discipline of DSA electeds according to the platform formed by the broader DSA membership, after these issues came to widespread attention.

In late 2023, after the DSA National Convention and during a rise of mass protests for Palestinian liberation, Bowman announced that he had let his membership expire the year prior. Yet, DSA members and U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush led a ceasefire resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives, also co-sponsored by DSA member and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Protests led by DSA, often alongside Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and nationally-led phonebanking sessions for getting other congresspeople to sign onto the ceasefire resolution centered the resolution as part of the broader goal of Palestinian liberation. This also came with public statements by DSA against the killing of all civilians and which denounced Israeli apartheid as the core of the violence in historic Palestine. In November 2023, the overall context of this section resulted in both the censure of Representative Tlaib in the US House of Representatives for her vocal criticisms of the State of Israel; and the formal split of the former BDS Working Group from DSA to have greater autonomy from national leadership, though a majority of their members remain part of DSA and they continue to work with the Anti-Zionist Slate and members of the International Committee, and in local chapters.

Rail strike vote

The expected rail strike in late 2022 became a focal point of debate within DSA following votes by DSA-endorsed congresspeople to force a contract agreement on striking workers against the wishes of many workers and 500 labor historians. Rashida Tlaib chose to vote against breaking the rail strike, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush voted in favor due to ostensible recommendations of union leadership and the rank-and-file. This again ignited discussions about the discipline of endorsed officials within the socialist movement.

Throughout 2022, the Biden administration attempted to avert the rail strike by getting involved in negotiations. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez’s office initially stayed in contact with the National Political Committee, but regular meetings fell through after September due to unresponsiveness by NPC members. By September, four unions representing 55 percent of Class I freight rail workers voted against a tentative agreement with railroad giants, urging for more paid sick days and better safety (a matter later highlighted by the East Palestine derailment). By November, the Biden administration called for Congress to force the tentative agreement, which the House of Representatives passed alongside an amendment for additional days of paid sick leave. The amendment failed in the Senate, with the forcing of the tentative agreement passing and being signed by President Biden.

In the aftermath, the NPC stated that congresspeople voting for enforcing the tentative agreement were siding with billionaires and taking away workers’ right to strike, and Seattle DSA circulated an open letter praising Tlaib’s vote and calling for a town hall with Ocasio-Cortez and Bush to explain their votes. The NPC voiced disapproval of Ocasio-Cortez and Bush’s votes to force the tentative agreement, while Railroad Workers United criticized their votes. Other leftist organizations and publications likewise criticized DSA congresspeople and called for greater accountability. Again, many members have proposed or created Socialists in Office committees as formalized infrastructure to discipline DSA electeds according to the democratically reached platform of the broader DSA membership, after these issues came to widespread attention.

New leadership: A leftward shift?

The 2023-2025 DSA National Political Committee (NPC) was chosen at the 2023 DSA National Convention in early August, reflecting a diverse field of candidates representing various caucuses and ideological alignments. With a total of 41 candidates vying for NPC positions, 16 were elected by ranked-choice voting at the DSA Convention, with the 17th seat reserved for YDSA’s co-chairs. Some elected NPC members succeeded through coalitions between groups to support each other’s candidacies and proposals. One such coalition was the Left Coalition between independent Chavista and International Committee member Luisa M., Red Star, the Libertarian Socialist Caucus, the Anti-Zionist Slate, and Emerge. The NPC results included:

• 3 members from Red Star
• 2 members from Marxist Unity Group
• 1 independent Chavista internationalist
• 1 member from the Anti-Zionist Slate
• 3 members from Bread and Roses
• 4 members from Groundwork
• 2 members from Socialist Majority Caucus

Other caucuses notably absent from the final slate were Reform and Revolution, the Libertarian Socialist Caucus, Emerge, Red Labor, and North Star, despite their efforts for coalition-building and campaigning. The Communist Caucus chose not to run candidates for the NPC, primarily endorsing Red Star candidates. Other minor caucuses such as the Lighthouse Caucus in Maine and the Red Caucus in Oregon had insignificant showings.

The new slate of NPC members has been called a “left majority” victory. The more moderate factions, Groundwork and Socialist Majority Caucus, lost their governing coalition from most of the previous NPC, winning six out of the 17 total seats. Meanwhile, the new majority in the NPC is a coalition of revolutionary socialists and Marxists.

In YDSA, the 2023-2024 National Coordinating Committee election was somewhat less competitive, as nine candidates ran for seven at-large seats and four candidates ran for two co-chair seats. Those who did not win co-chair seats were permitted to run for at-large seats. Bread and Roses members tended to do significant whipping for various proposals and candidates, but there was still some ideological diversity. The winning NCC members included:

• 1 co-chair from the Constellation Caucus
• 1 independent, revolutionary-leaning co-chair
• 1 at-large member from Marxist Unity Group
• 1 at-large member from the Constellation Caucus
• 2 at-large members from Bread and Roses
• 3 at-large independent members (including 1 Bread and Roses-aligned)

The YDSA co-chairs share the 17th seat on the DSA NPC, thus giving them half a vote each for NPC matters.

Notable proposals at the Conventions

The DSA and YDSA Conventions featured a range of notable proposals that reflected the organization’s commitment to various principles and organizing campaigns.

Internationalism

One significant proposal involved the NPC-proposed merger of the BDS Working Group with the International Committee. The narrow approval of this proposal by the Convention stirred controversy due to prior issues surrounding the BDS Working Group’s temporary de-chartering and leadership ban. Despite these tensions, the DSA National Convention delegates recommitted to the BDS movement, Palestinian liberation, and the International Committee’s work building relationships with international movements and hosting delegations.

Militant unionism

The convention also bore witness to developments in the realm of militant unionism. The DSA National Convention recommitted to the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), a joint project of DSA and United Electrical. It also recommitted to the Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC), a project of the DSA Housing Justice Committee. In addition, the Convention passed resolutions and platform changes for public rail ownership following the 2022 railroad labor dispute, along with a reaffirmation of a militant rank-and-file labor strategy and militant tenant organizing. In the context of the labor fights and DSA support for Starbucks workers, UPS workers, and writers and actors, the Convention further marked the kick-off of a major labor campaign to support the then-arising UAW labor fight with the Big Three car manufacturers and labor militancy in the union.

Electoral and legislative

The DSA National Convention showcased a deepened Green New Deal commitment, following the success of the Build Public Renewables Act in New York state by local chapters’ leadership. The Convention further passed resolutions for DSA acting like an independent party and running candidates in school board elections, given the failures of the Democratic Party and authoritarian attacks on public education.

Most notably for elected discipline, delegates passed by a large majority a resolution for a national committee to help prepare for the 2024 national elections. The committee is assigned to develop relationships with socialist elected officials along lines of explicitly socialist and independent organizing and messaging. This came alongside language passed to help develop Socialists in Office committees on the national level and in local chapters to strengthen accountability of DSA elected officials and raise the expectations of the working class against status quo capitalist politics.

Social issues

The DSA National Convention results also underscored DSA’s dedication to critical social issues. Resolutions passed for national efforts for trans liberation, free abortion and birth control on demand, immigration rights, and multiracial abolitionist organizing. These resolutions include expending national resources to support such efforts in the local chapters. They also involve state-level coordination for ballot measures and building mutual aid, and coordinated mobilization to defend civil and economic rights in the face of burgeoning right-wing authoritarianism.

YDSA

At the 2023 YDSA National Convention, a distinct convention immediately preceding the DSA National Convention, proposals covered a range of issues relevant to the youth socialist movement. Among these included a prioritization of resources for YDSA chapters at public universities, community colleges, and HBCUs, where working-class organizers are most likely to need such resources. It included a commitment to the struggle for free expression and inquiry, particularly relevant in the context of right-wing attacks on academic freedom and labor organizing. It expanded YDSA to young organizers who are not students, and made commitments to youth internationalism, disability action, housing organizing, and militant campus unionism inspired by current work in universities and colleges.

Some delegates whipped against an amendment which would have made NCC representatives elected by rank-and-file members of YDSA. They argued that YDSA doesn’t yet have the infrastructure to implement it, or that rank-and-file members do not go to candidate debates enough. However, this stands in contrast to Princeton YDSA’s chapter-level deliberation in favor of the amendment, as chapter members believed chapter-level vote collection and direct elections are feasible and encourage debate attendance.

Conclusion

The Democratic Socialists of America stands as a testament to the renewed engagement with socialist ideas in the United States since 2016. With its commitment to labor, ecological, racial, reproductive, and international justice, and its successful campaigns in carrying these commitments out, it continues to play a dominant role in shaping the direction of the American Left. Its internal debates offer insights into some of the most important issues in the theory and practice of socialist ideals, and demonstrate the diversity of the movement for a free socialist society.