The Socialist Party of the United States of America (also Socialist Party USA or SPUSA) is a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

political party in the United States. SPUSA formed in 1973, one year after the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

splintered into three:

Social Democrats, USA Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) is a social democratic organization in the United States. SDUSA formed in 1972 as the successor to the Socialist Party of America (SPA), which splintered into three: SDUSA; the Democratic Socialist Organizing C ...

(legal successor); the

Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC, ) was a political organization founded by Michael Harrington that advocated democratic socialism in the United States. DSOC was formed in 1973 when Harrington led a minority caucus away from ...

(split); and SPUSA. SPUSA describes itself as a

multi-tendency A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...

socialist party which hopes to win socialism through a "democratic revolution from below". In contrast to the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...

(DSA), SPUSA advocates for "uncompromising independence" from the Democratic Party. SPUSA describes socialism as "

radical democracy Radical democracy is a type of democracy that advocates the radical extension of equality and liberty. Radical democracy is concerned with a radical extension of equality and freedom, following the idea that democracy is an unfinished, inclusive, ...

", in opposition to "

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

statist systems". Notable members include

David McReynolds David Ernest McReynolds (October 25, 1929 – August 17, 2018) was an American politician and social activist who was a prominent democratic socialist and pacifist activist. He described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-y ...

Frank Zeidler Frank Paul Zeidler (September 20, 1912 – July 7, 2006) was an American socialist politician and mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving three terms from April 20, 1948, to April 18, 1960. Zeidler, a member of the Socialist Party of America, ...

, and

Dan La Botz Daniel H. La Botz (born August 9, 1945) is an American labor union activist, academic, journalist, and author. He was a co-founder of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and has written extensively on worker rights in the United St ...

. Former members include

Ben Burgis Ben Burgis is an American socialist political commentator and author. He has written articles for ''Jacobin'', ''The Daily Beast'' and MSNBC. Ben Burgis explains socialism primarily based on the analytical Marxist tradition of G. A. Cohen, and f ...

Organization

SPUSA is headquartered at the A. J. Muste Institute. , the Socialist Party had 11 local and state parties. Active SPUSA state parties include

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Inactive state parties include

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Membership

In 1975, chairman Frank Zeidler claimed that SPUSA had around 500 members nationwide. SPUSA saw growth during the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s, expanding from around 600 members to around 1,700 members. In 2008,

WMNF WMNF (88.5 MHz) is an FM non-commercial community radio station in Tampa, Florida. It is owned by the Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation and it airs a mix of music shows and news programming. It is supported by listener contributions and ha ...

claimed that SPUSA had around 3,000 members. However, in 2010, ''

CommonDreams Common Dreams NewsCenter, often referred to simply as Common Dreams, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, U.S.-based news website with a stated goal of serving the progressive community. Common Dreams publishes news stories, editorials, and a newswire of c ...

'' wrote that SPUSA had only 1,000 members, and party members described that as an increase in membership. In May 2011, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' stated that SPUSA had "about 1,000 members nationally". In February 2012, ''

The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, '' Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...

'' stated that SPUSA had "around 1,500" members.

History

Background

In 1958, the

Independent Socialist League The Workers Party (WP) was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. It was founded in April 1940 by members of the Socialist Workers Party who opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland and Leon Trotsky's belief that the USSR under Jos ...

, led by

Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings ...

, dissolved and joined the

(SPA), which was founded by

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five-time candidate of the Socialist Party o ...

. Shachtman had written that

Soviet communism Before the perestroika reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev that promoted a more liberal form of socialism, the formal ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Marxism–Leninism, a form of socialism consisting of a centralise ...

was a new form of class society,

bureaucratic collectivism Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. It is used by some Trotskyists to describe the nature of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and other similar states in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere (such as North Korea). T ...

, in which the ruling class exploited and oppressed the population, and therefore he opposed the spread of communism.: Shachtman argued that democratic socialists should work with

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s and

civil rights organizations Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

to build a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

"realignment" of the Democratic Party. "Shachmanites" had a great amount of influence on the SPA. In its 1972 convention, the SPA changed its name to

by a vote of 73 to 34, supported by both Co-Chairmen,

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin ( ; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was the principal organizer of the March on Wash ...

and Charles S. Zimmerman. * ''The New York Times'' reported on the Convention for other days, e.g. * * Gerald Sorin, ''The Prophetic Minority: American Jewish Immigrant Radicals, 1880-1920''. Bloomington. Indiana University Press. 1985. p. 155. This rename was meant to be "realistic". ''

'' observed that the Socialist Party had last sponsored Darlington Hoopes as its candidate for president in the 1956 election, who received only 2,121 votes, in just six states. The majority report noted that the name "party" was "misleading" because the SPA no longer sponsored presidential candidates, and also hindered recruitment of activists who participated in the Democratic Party. The name "Socialist" was replaced by "Social Democrats" because many American associated the word "

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

" with Soviet communism. The party also wished to distinguish itself from two small Marxist parties. The convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, 8 seats for Harrington's Coalition Caucus, 2 for the Debs caucus, and one for the "independent" Samuel H. Friedman. These minority caucuses all opposed the name change. The convention voted on and adopted proposals for its program by a two-one vote, with the majority caucus winning every vote.

Founding

After their defeat at the convention, members of the two minority caucuses helped to found new socialist organizations. Harrington's Coalition Caucus created the

. The Debs Caucus, led by

, formed the Union for Democratic Socialism. On May 30, 1973, the UDS incorporated the Socialist Party of the United States of America. Many activists from the local and state branches of the old Socialist Party of America, including the party's Wisconsin, California, Illinois, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. organizations, participated in the reconstitution of SPUSA.Busky 2000, pp. 164. After its founding, the party promoted itself as the legitimate heir of the Socialist Party of America. SPUSA elected

, former

Mayor of Milwaukee This is a list of mayors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following the election of Socialist Emil Seidel as mayor of Milwaukee in 1910, Wisconsin legislators passed a bill in 1912 to declare most local offices across the state as officially non-parti ...

, as its first national

chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

. Later, SPUSA nominated Zeidler for President. Zeidler believed the party would be able to collaborate with other socialist parties nationwide to spread the message of socialism.

Subsequent history

In 2008, SPUSA candidate for President Brian Moore vocally opposed the idea that

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

was a socialist of any kind, saying it was "misleading of the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

" to spread that message. In 2009, the Socialist Party of Connecticut protested in

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

against Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan. In 2010, SPUSA Co-Chair Billy Wharton called Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address a "public relations ploy". Wharton criticized the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

as designed "to protect the profit margins of private insurance companies".

Ideology

SPUSA argues that socialism can only come through

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...

. SPUSA tendencies include both

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...

, for a gradual transformation of society, and

revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revo ...

, for a rapid transformation following a slow "socialist transformation from below" through radically democratic "people's organizations". SPUSA describes socialism as a radically democratic system which "places people's lives under their own control—a classless, feminist, socialist society free of racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia," and in which "the people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically controlled public agencies, cooperatives, or other collective groups"; "full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work"; "workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions"; and "production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few." Socialist Party candidates support expanding

social spending Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

social ownership Social ownership is a type of property where an asset is recognized to be in the possession of society as a whole rather than individual members or groups within it. Social ownership of the means of production is the defining characteristic of ...

of capital. In 2009, Greg Pason's proposals included socializing the United States health care system, a steeply

graduated income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

, universal

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

and the elimination of all educational debts and

tuition Tuition may refer to: *Formal education, education within a structured institutional framework *Tutoring, private academic help *Tuition payments Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth ...

fees. In 1997, Pason called

auto insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury ...

regressive tax A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high t ...

against working people". Moore was also vocal of his support for

socialized medicine Socialized medicine is a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care—medical and hospital care for all by means of government regulation of health care and subsidies derived from taxation. Because of ...

. Moore supported

economic democracy Economic democracy (sometimes called a democratic economy) is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift ownership and decision-making power from corporate shareholders and corporate managers (such as a board of directors) to a larger ...

through

and

workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christi ...

of our reigning industrial and

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

Election results

SPUSA has fielded electoral candidates for

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, and federal offices. SPUSA candidates usually run on a SPUSA ballot line, as

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, or as

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidates. SPUSA has often endorsed members of the

Vermont Progressive Party The Vermont Progressive Party, formerly the Progressive Coalition and Independent Coalition, is a political party in the United States that is active in Vermont. It is the third-largest political party in Vermont behind the Democratic and Repub ...

(VPP), such as

Peter Diamondstone Peter Isaac Diamondstone (December 19, 1934 – August 30, 2017) was an American lawyer and socialist politician from the state of Vermont, best known as a perennial candidate and co-founder of the Liberty Union Party. He ran for various Ver ...

. Most of these individuals were members of the Vermont socialist

Liberty Union Party The Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party (GMPJP), formerly known as the Liberty Union Party (LUP) until 2021, is a socialist political party in Vermont, United States. LUP was formed in 1970 by progressives to contest the 1970 Senate election. ...

, but not members of SPUSA. These endorsees-but-not-members of SPUSA are not included below. SPUSA has won several local offices, but never a state legislature, statewide, or federal office.

Current elected members

* Pat Noble, member of the

Red Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School (often abbreviated RBR) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the boroughs of Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsb ...

Board of Education * Samantha Pree-Stinson, member of the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Board of Estimate and Taxation

Presidential elections

In the 1984 presidential election, SPUSA nominated the Citizens Party candidate for president,

Sonia Johnson Sonia Ann Johnson, (''née'' Harris; born February 27, 1936) is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of the Chur ...

. In the 2020 presidential election, the SPUSA nominated the

nominee

Howie Hawkins Howard Gresham Hawkins III (born December 8, 1952) is an American trade unionist and environmental activist. Co-founder of the Green Party of the United States, Hawkins was the party's presidential nominee in the 2020 presidential election. Hi ...

for president. Hawkins also received various state-level party endorsements, such as the

in Vermont, in a bid to unite the "non-sectarian independent Left" behind a single campaign.

Congressional elections

Statewide elections

State legislature elections

Local elections

National conventions

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

*

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

contains materials from the Socialist Party of the United States of America.
Constitution of the Socialist Party USA

SPUSA platform
* ''The Organizer'' archives: *
2006-02 to 2008-04
*
2008-01 to 2012-04
*

*

*

*

*
2017-11 to 2020-09
*
2019-03 to 2022-03
*
2021-05 to 2024-11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party USA Political parties established in 1973 Socialist parties in the United States Democratic socialism in the United States Multi-tendency organizations in the United States Political parties in the United States

Organization

Membership

History

Background

Founding

Subsequent history

Ideology

Election results

Current elected members

Presidential elections

Congressional elections

Statewide elections

State legislature elections

Local elections

National conventions

See also

Notes

References

References

Further reading

External links