Sept. 16 Meeting: What is Democratic Socialism?

 

During the current election cycle, we have heard a lot about democratic socialism, but just what is it? A movement? A party? A term of political theory? How do we know who is a democratic socialist? And why are we suddenly hearing so much about it? The September 16 meeting of the Northport Cracker Barrel will parse out the What? the Who? and the Why now?

A comparison with social democracy provides a starting point for the What. Social democracy, as the term is widely used in Europe, is an effort to humanize capitalism with a strong social safety net and to rein in its excesses with regulations and worker protections. Somehow the term has never caught on in the United States, although many longstanding planks in the program of the Democratic Party seem to fit. Democratic socialism, in contrast, aims to replace capitalism while preserving multi-party democracy.

Just Who is a democratic socialist is a little harder to pin down. Is party membership in the Democratic Socialists of America essential? Is adherence to every element of the DSA program a requirement, including both broad points like universal healthcare and controversial ones like abolishing prisons and the Senate? Or is it enough that a candidate be supported by the DSA or sympathize with some of its principles?

And Why now? The DSA has been around since 1982, but its membership has expanded dramatically in recent years. Some attribute the increased interest to disappointment with an insufficiently dynamic Democratic establishment, others to runaway corporate power and growing inequality of income and wealth, and still others to the crisis in healthcare and the central place of Medicare for All in the platforms of the DSA and DSA-adjacent candidates. And of course, forceful personalities like Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, and AOC have done a lot to keep it in the headlines.

Whether we love it or hate it, democratic socialism is increasingly in the news and increasingly influential.

Recommended readings:

·         Articles on Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy in Wikipedia.

·         Two perspectives from the DSA itself, one programmatic and one utopian.

·         Why Democrats are turning to socialism (Financial Times).

·         How the DSA inspires the left – and trips up its candidates (Washington Post)