Editing Democratic Socialists of America

{{External article cleanup|date=November 2021}}{{Infobox political party|name=Democratic Socialists of America|logo=Democratic Socialists of America Logo .png|founded=20 March 1982|abbreviation=DSA|leader1_title=National Director|leader1_name=[[Maria Svart]]|founder=[[Michael Harrington]]|headquarters=[[New York City]], [[State of New York|New York]]|newspaper=''Democratic Left''|student_wing=Young Democratic<br> Socialists of America|membership_year=2021|membership=94,915|political_orientation=[[Democratic socialism]]<br>'''Factions:'''<br>[[Social democracy]]<br>[[Ecosocialism]]<br>[[Scientific socialism]]<br>[[Libertarian socialism]]<br>[[Neoliberalism]]|international=[[Socialist International]]<br>(1982–2017)|website=https://www.dsausa.org/}}

 

Despite the left-wing position of the membership, its leadership and history is rife with anti-socialism, anti-communism,<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Tom Hall|date=2017-08-03|title=The anti-socialist politics of the Democratic Socialists of America|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/08/03/dsoc-a03.html|newspaper=[[WSWS]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> liberal reformism<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Rainer Shea]]|date=2020-12-10|title=Unmasking the fake left: The DSA Leading The Masses Towards Soft Imperialism And Petty-Bourgeois Reformism|url=https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/12/10/unmasking-the-fake-left-the-dsa-leading-the-masses-towards-soft-imperialism-and-petty-bourgeois-reformism/|newspaper=[[The Greanville Post]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> and pro-[[imperialism]].<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Ben Norton]]|date=2017-06-07|title=DSA, we need to talk about imperialism|url=https://bennorton.com/dsa-imperialism-democratic-socialists-of-america-war/|newspaper=|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> The pro-imperialism has recently been in decline, with DSA's International Committee calling for the US withdrawal from [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]].<ref>{{News citation|date=2021-05-11|title=DSA IC says “No to NATO”|url=https://international.dsausa.org/statements/dsa-says-no-to-nato/}}</ref>  

The DSA itself is not a political party, but several of its members have held office in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], Green Party, Working Families Party, or as independents.  

In 2022, Socialist Alternative launched a caucus within the DSA.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Erin Brightwell|date=2022-03-01|title=Why Socialist Alternative is Launching a Caucus in DSA|url=https://www.socialistalternative.org/2022/03/01/why-socialist-alternative-is-launching-a-caucus-in-dsa/|newspaper=[[Socialist Alternative]]}}</ref>

DSA was founded by Michael Harrington, a self-described "democratic socialist" who opposed [[Actually Existing Socialism|actually existing socialist states]] of his time, notably the [[USSR]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], and members of the [[Eastern Bloc]].  

In 1948, Harrington and other young intellectuals joined with Trotskyist Max Shachtman to develop the idea of a "Third Camp" which opposed both the capitalist bloc and the communist bloc.  

Revealing his reactionary character, Harrington said in the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' in the 1980s that, "I share an immediate program with liberals in this country because the best liberalism leads toward socialism."