Democratic Socialists of America: a parliamentary party

[Editor’s note: this is part seven in a series of posts re-imagining the United States as a parliamentary government. To see the introduction piece to get a better idea of what this is and why I’m writing it click here. Part one described the new Democratic Party, part two the Republican Party, part three the Conservative Party, part four America First, part five the Centrist Party, and part six the Working Class Coalition. Mostly everything included in this post is fictional, including motives, policies, logos, and strategies. However, I’ve done my best to imagine what could be based on the players involved and the circumstances provided.]

Where do we stand:

Having already been an established organization since its founding in 1982, the DSA has a leg up on the other breakaway parties. The DSA also benefits from being the only party that already counted elected members of congress among its ranks being able to swiftly establish themselves as an independent party immediately after the parliamentary split. However, that pre-established advantage only goes so far, as the Working Class Coalition undercuts what could have been a much larger progressive party. How the DSA navigates its ideological companion in the WCC will be a major question. Furthermore, divisions between progressives and moderates in the Democratic party had been a cause for internal strife before the split. Now, the DSA will have the opportunity to stall any Democratic agenda they feel isn't sufficiently moderate enough without calls of intra-party sabotage.

What socialism means is to guarantee a basic level of dignity. It's asserting the value of saying that the America we want and the American that we are proud of is one in which all children can access a dignified education. It's one in which no person is too poor to have the medicines they need to live. It's to say that no individual's civil rights are to be violated.

-Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Seats in the House: 11

Seats in the Senate: 0

Policy:

The Democratic Socialists of America are a progressive party with sharp focus on the socio-economic, racial and class divisions in American life. The party is strongest in urban areas with a diverse coalition and youthful exuberance. According to the DSA, the American government can and should be doing much more to lift citizens out of poverty, address racial wealth gaps, and provide healthcare for every American. The DSA know they have popular policy positions among American voters and must therefore convince those voters to give them the chance at greater authority and influence.

Dignity

Fundamentally, the DSA is focused on providing dignity for all Americans, regardless of class, race, sexual orientation, or physical status.
In order to provide that the DSA wants to see a much more expansive social safety net in the United States.
The "Scandinavian model" of high taxes mixed with high benefits is an aspirational goal for the DSA.

Welfare

Massive increase in unemployment insurance, providing a living wage for those who have fallen on hard times and removing the old paradigm of using unemployment insurance as a stick to force people back into the labor force.
Universal paid education.
The state should provide education not just for K-12 but also for higher education.
DSA recognizes that the modern economy demands education beyond the traditional confines of the state supported education and therefore must not allow for the poor to be left out of educational and job opportunities.
Universal health insurance.
All Americans should be able to access free health care.
Including dental and co-pay free medications.
Welfare reform.
DSA wants to shift the current paradigm, that those who need government assistance should be shamed and stigmatized, to one which shows that all Americans could use some help now and then.
This would include removing job requirements on various handouts.
Increases the amounts and the uses for SNAP (food stamps).
Expanded child tax credits and subsidized child care.
Increase the minimum wage.
The DSA would immediately increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour and tie the number to economic indicators so that it would increase automatically over time.

Labor

The DSA comes from the wellspring of labor activism and political movements.
Therefore, the party wants to see labor unions return to the forefront of negotiations and public life.
This would include the elimination of so-called "right to work" laws which allow workers to circumvent labor dues while still receiving the fruits of labor union negotiation.
Ultimately, the DSA would like to see sectoral bargaining become a mainstay of the American capitalist system.
Aspirationally oriented towards more worker ownership in business.

Environment

Of all parties, outside of maybe the Green party, the DSA is most heavily focused on the problems of environmental degradation and climate change.
The DSA is opposed to oil and gas subsidizes desiring to instead increase subsidizes for green alternative energies like wind, solar, and geothermal. However, the DSA is also opposed to relatively clean nuclear energy because of the possible threat from reactor meltdowns.
Infrastructure ideas center on increases in public transportation and the de-centering of automobiles in city planning.
Call for a 'Green New Deal' combining environmental policy with pro labor policy.

Justice

The DSA recognizes the social structures that have traditionally advantaged certain groups over others and wants to use policy to rectify those imbalances and create a more just future.
This includes the use of reparations for the descendants of slaves, restoration of tribal rights in regards to property and sovereignty disputes, and a focus on diversity in all sectors of American life.
Re-imagining policing and making for a more varied use of professional emergency respondents. Increase the use of mental health and conflict managers as opposed to more combative police training.
Combining labor forward proposals with anti-racist proposals.
Teaching of a race conscious history in schools and centering the founding of America on the ways in which the aspirations of the founders were incomplete because of their continued practice of slavery.
Desire to pass more protective legislation for LGBTQ+ with a particular focus on protecting trans people from persecution by the state.

Foreign Policy

Perhaps the most anti-interventionist of all the new parties in Congress.
The DSA not only wants to see less foreign involvement of the American military abroad, but also wants to dramatically reduce the military budget with an eye towards reallocating those resources to other areas of domestic focus.
More willing to shake up global alliances with countries that engage in human rights abuses such as Saudi Arabia, or more consequently, Israel.
Do not view the US as needing to play a role as the global police.
Less likely to engage in harsh sanctions that tend to affect the standard of living for average people as opposed to the political elites that are meant to target.
Somewhat supportive of tariffs that protect domestic industries with large labor forces.

The important players

The DSA is headlined by some of the loudest voices on Capitol hill. Boasting a small but impactful delegation that includes first term congressfolk Cori Bush (MO-1), and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) but also includes multiple termers Jim McGovern (MA-2), Danny K. Davis (IL-7), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-8), and Peter DeFazio (OR-4). But the obvious big name players are the majority of the 2018 "Squad:" Ilhan Oman (MN-5), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14). However, notably missing from the portrait is fellow squad member Ayanna Pressely who opted for the WCC instead.

While the DSA boasts a powerful House delegation, they enter the 117th congress without a single senator. While there were several obvious choices to join the progressive party among Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, or Tammy Baldwin, they all decided to join the alternative progressive party in the WCC. But the most disappointing non-committal has to be Sen. Bernie Sanders, in many ways the spiritual leader of the progressive movement, Sanders instead opts to remain independent although he gave support to the DSA in a press release announcing his intentions. He may not be a part of the new party but there is little doubt that he will continue to be the most aligned senator in that Chamber to the DSA's policy goals.

The road ahead

The DSA has an opportunity to operate as the most aspirational progressive party in the 117th Congress. While relatively small, the party could be called upon to support the more progressive goals of a Democratic party which will be looking for ways to navigate a coalitional government. And, with Ocasio-Cortez at the helm, the DSA hopes that they will continue to grow and be able to pick up more seats in coming elections as young, urban Americans begin to voice their political will at the ballot box.

However, the road ahead won't be easy. The stinging insult of the WCC's creation leaves the DSA fighting to be the true vanguard of progressivism. How they navigate a political environment in which they share a majority of political and policy view points with the WCC while simultaneously trying to win over their voters and become the primary home for progressive voters remains to be seen. Can they continue to play the role of bomb thrower or will they need to moderate their strategies?

Does the lack of Senatorial representation handicap the party or is it a political boon? The DSA may see a benefit to being locked out of the already dis-proportionally allocated body. Focusing on the anti-democratic nature of the chamber could be beneficial for the party as they attempt to activate new and young voters primed for dissatisfaction. In many ways, the party is in a better position than the newly established WCC. While they have a smaller congressional delegation, the history of the organization before the parliamentary split leaves some element of loyalty which the WCC will need to build from the ground up. The battle for progressive voters will be the main focus for the parties and for congressional watchers going forward.

Coming Up

In the next installment in this series, I'll cover the smattering of smaller parties with elected members of the 117th congress. This includes a couple familiar organizations: the Green Party and the Libertarian party both gain representation. Meanwhile, the Texans for Liberty, Ted Cruz's vanity project, flirts the line between Republican caucus and full blown party while Rand Paul leaves to form his own vanity project: the Rand Paul list.

These bit players won't have much ability to shape policies in the near term but will be able to suck up media attention and make waves by taking advantage of their lack of political strength. Could any of these smaller groups build a policy platform or loyal base big enough to take significant votes in the future? Can Ted Cruz or Rand Paul build personalistic political parties or are they likely to crumble under their own hubris? How will voters respond to a system that allows for what were previously protest votes to actually give power to marginal players?