View source for Social Democrats, USA

{{Short description|Social democratic political organization in the United States}}
{{For|the 1898–1901 party|Social Democratic Party of America}}
{{primary sources|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Social Democrats, USA
| abbreviation     = SDUSA
| logo             = Logo of Social Democrats, USA.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| colorcode        = {{party color|Social Democrats, USA}}
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1972|12|30|p=y}}
| predecessor      = [[Socialist Party of America]]
| newspaper        = ''[[New America (newspaper)|New America]]'' (1972–1985)<br>''Socialist Currents'' (after 2011)
| youth_wing       = Young Social Democrats
| ideology         = [[Social democracy]]<ref>[http://socialistcurrents.org/?page_id=18 "Principles"]. Social Democrats USA. Retrieved February 10, 2020.</ref> <br> [[Democratic socialism]] <br> [[Anti-communism]] <br>
| position         = [[Centre-left politics|Center-left]]
| international    = [[Socialist International]] (1973–2005)<ref>{{cite web |title=SI member parties - North America |publisher=[[Socialist International]] |url=http://www.socialistinternational.org/maps/english/northa.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2005 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050408195253/http://www.socialistinternational.org/maps/english/northa.htm}}</ref>
| colors           = {{color box|{{party color|Social Democrats, USA}}|border=darkgray}} [[Red]]
| website          = {{URL|http://socialistcurrents.org|socialistcurrents.org}}
| country          = the United States
| seats1_title     = Members in elected offices
| seats1           = 1
}}
{{socialism US}}
{{Social democracy sidebar}}
'''Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA)''' is a [[Social democracy|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 Committee]]; and the [[Socialist Party USA]].

SDUSA describes itself as committed to the broader [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialist]] tradition,<ref>Hacker, David (2008–2010). [http://socialistcurrents.org/?page_id=621 "Heritage"]. Social Democrats USA. Retrieved February 10, 2020. "While concentrating on developing social democratic programs for the here and now, we have not given up our vision of the new socialist society that incremental change would eventually bring. We are still committed to the vibrant democratic socialist movement of the near future and our socialist vision of the far future beyond our lifetime and our children's lifetime.{{nbsp}}... We view the terms "social democracy" and "democratic socialism" as being interchangeable."</ref> but is firmly [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] and used "social democrat" rather than "socialist" to disassociate the group from the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="NYTimes2">{{cite news |date=December 31, 1972 |title=Socialist Party now the Social Democrats, U.S.A. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/31/archives/socialist-party-now-the-social-democrats-usa.html?_r=0 |access-date=February 8, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=36}}</ref>

SDUSA supports a [[political realignment]] strategy which aims to shift the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] toward social democracy by building a coalition of [[trade union]]s, particularly the [[AFL-CIO|AFL–CIO]], civil rights organizations, and other [[Working class in the United States|working-class]] constituencies.<ref name="NYT74">{{cite news |last=Fraser |first=C. Gerald |date=September 7, 1974 |title=Socialists seek to transform the Democratic Party |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/09/07/80424252.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |page=11}}</ref>

[[Leading members of Social Democrats, USA|Notable SDUDSA members]] include [[Bayard Rustin]], [[Norman Hill]], [[Tom Kahn]], [[Paul Feldman|Paul]] and [[Sandra Feldman]], [[Robert J. Alexander]], [[Carl Gershman]], [[Albert Glotzer]], [[Sidney Hook]], [[Penn Kemble]], [[A. Philip Randolph]], [[August Tyler]], [[Charles S. Zimmerman]] and Rachelle Horowitz of the [[American Federation of Teachers]].

== Membership ==
In 1973, SDUSA reported having 1,800 members.<ref name="SOHO">{{harvtxt|O'Rourke|1993|pp=195–196}}: {{pb}}{{cite book|last=O'Rourke|first=William|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iUJfPxlTCcC&pg=PA195|chapter=L: Michael Harrington|title=Signs of the literary times: Essays, reviews, profiles, 1970-1992'|pages=192–196|publisher=SUNY Press|series=The Margins of Literature (SUNY Series)|year=1993|isbn=0-7914-1681-X}} {{pb}}Originally: {{cite journal|last=O'Rourke|first=William|title=Michael Harrington: Beyond Watergate, Sixties, and reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iUJfPxlTCcC&q=Michael+Harrington&pg=PA197|pages=6–7|journal=SoHo Weekly News|volume=3|number=2|date=November 13, 1973|isbn=9780791416815}}</ref> In 1992, SDUSA had about 500 members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dsausa.org/a_brief_history_of_the_american_left |title=A Brief History of the American Left |last=Isserman |first=Maurice|author-link=Maurice Isserman |date=June 2, 1998 |website=[[Democratic Socialists of America]] |access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref>

Membership dues were paid annually and included a subscription to SDUSA's official publication, the tabloid-format newspaper ''[[New America (newspaper)|New America]]''. In 1983, the annual dues rate was $25.<ref>"Wanted: Dues Cheaters" (ad), ''New America'' [New York], vol. 20, no. 5 (September–October 1983), pg. 7.</ref>

SDUSA was governed by biannual [[Party conference|conventions]] that included participation from interested observers. These conventions featured discussions and debates on proposed resolutions, some of which were adopted as official organizational statements. The conventions often included guest speakers from outside SDUSA, ranging from neoconservatives such as [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]] to democratic socialists like [[Paul Berman]], along with a variety of academic, political, and labor union leaders. These gatherings also served as reunions for political activists and intellectuals who had collaborated over extended periods.<ref name="MeyersonDissent">{{cite journal|first=Harold|last=Meyerson|author-link=Harold Meyerson|date=Fall 2002|volume=49|number=4|title=Solidarity, Whatever|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=552|journal=Dissent|page=16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620144233/http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=552|archive-date=June 20, 2010}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Origins ===
{{main|Socialist Party of America}}
{{see also|Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee|Socialist Party USA}}
By the early 1970s, the [[Socialist Party of America]] (SPA) was publicly associated with civil rights and labor union leader [[A. Philip Randolph]] and with author [[Michael Harrington]]. Prior to the party's 1972 convention, Harrington had resigned from his role as an Honorary Chairperson, citing dissatisfaction with the organization's lack of support for [[George McGovern]]'s [[George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign|1972 presidential campaign]] and its stance on the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="NYTimes2"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GZM2AAAAQBAJ&q=social+democrats+usa Richard D. Kahlenberg, Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race and Democracy (Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013), p. 157–158].</ref>

[[File:BayardRustinAug1963-LibraryOfCongress crop.jpg|thumb|upright|National Chairman [[Bayard Rustin]] in 1963]]
At the 1972 convention, the SPA was led by two Co-Chairmen: [[Bayard Rustin]] and [[Charles S. Zimmerman]],<ref name="Sorin149">Gerald Sorin, ''The Prophetic Minority: American Jewish Immigrant Radicals, 1880–1920.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985; p. 155.</ref> along with First National Vice Chairman James S. Glaser, all of whom were re-elected by acclamation.<ref name="NYTimes2"/> In his opening address, Rustin urged the organization to oppose the policies of the [[Presidency of Richard Nixon|Nixon administration]] and criticized what he described as the "irresponsibility and élitism of the 'New Politics' liberals".<ref name="NYTimes2"/>

The convention voted 73 to 34 to change the organization's name from the Socialist Party of America to Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA).<ref name="NYTimes2"/> The name change was intended to reflect the organization's decision to cease running its own candidates for public office and to address public confusion over the term “socialism,” which was often associated with [[Marxism–Leninism]].<ref name="NYTimes2"/> According to the majority report, the term “party” was seen as misleading since the SPA had last run a presidential candidate, [[Darlington Hoopes]], in the [[1956 United States presidential election|1956 election]]. The organization also sought to differentiate itself from smaller Marxist parties such as the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]] and the [[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor Party]].<ref name="NYT27">{{cite news|title=Young Socialists open parley; to weigh 'New Politics' split|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 27, 1972|page=25|author=Anonymous|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/27/archives/young-socialists-open-parley-to-weigh-new-politics-split.html?sq=Young+socialists&scp=7&st=p}}</ref>

The Unity Caucus, which represented the majority faction, prevailed in all votes during the convention, generally by a two-to-one margin. A national committee of 33 members was elected, including 22 members from the Unity Caucus, eight from Harrington's Coalition Caucus, two from the left-wing Debs Caucus, and one independent, [[Samuel H. Friedman]].<ref name="NYT73">{{cite news|title='Firmness' urged on <!-- CAPITALIZED! -->Communists: Social Democrats reach end of U.S. Convention here|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 1, 1973|page=11|author=Anonymous|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50C15F73F551A7493C3A9178AD85F478785F9}}</ref> Friedman and the minority caucuses opposed the name change.<ref name="NYTimes2"/>

The convention also adopted a new program by a similar two-to-one vote. The program called for a firm approach to what it termed “Communist aggression” in foreign affairs, opposed "any efforts to bomb [[Hanoi]] into submission", and advocated for a negotiated peace settlement in Vietnam that would protect communist cadres in [[South Vietnam]] from retaliation. A proposal by Harrington for a [[ceasefire]] and immediate U.S. military withdrawal was defeated.<!-- A Vice Chairman of the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL), [[Carl Gershman]] introduced the international program that was approved. --><ref name="NYT73" /> Harrington later criticized the organization for issuing only a qualified endorsement of McGovern and for what he viewed as insufficient mobilization on McGovern's behalf. In response, Unity Caucus member Arch Puddington stated that the California branch had actively supported McGovern, while the New York branch focused on a congressional campaign.<ref name="NYT27"/>

Following the convention and name change, Rustin became the organization's public spokesperson. Rustin stated that SDUSA aimed to transform the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] into a [[Social democracy|social democratic]] party, with a political realignment strategy associated with [[Max Shachtman]].<ref>
* [https://archive.org/details/otheramericanlif0000isse/page/300 <!-- quote=shachtman, meany. --> Maurice Isserman, The Other American: The Life Of Michael Harrington (Public Affairs, 2001), p.290-304]
* [https://archive.org/details/savingremnantrad00dube/page/84 <!-- quote=shachtman, realignment. --> Martin Duberman, A Saving Remnant: The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds (The New Press, 2013)]</ref>

=== 1972 splits ===
Several months after the convention, Harrington and members of his Coalition Caucus resigned from SDUSA and formed the [[Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee]] (DSOC), which later became the [[Democratic Socialists of America]].<ref name="SOHO" />

Members of the Debs Caucus also left SDUSA, with some forming the [[Socialist Party USA]].<ref>Busky 2000, pp. 165. {{cite book|last=Busky|first=Donald F.|title=Democratic socialism: A global survey|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3joQKjDtn4wC&q=Union+for+Democratic+Socialism+%22Union+for+Democratic+Socialism%22|isbn=978-0-275-96886-1}}<!-- This source was by a SPUSA activist and officer and some of its details have been questioned in other discussions. However, for the founding date, it seems a reasonable source, apparently unique. --></ref>

=== 1970s ===
The leadership of SDUSA emphasized the role of the American labor movement in advancing [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] and [[economic justice]]. The organization's domestic program reflected the ideas presented in Bayard Rustin's article ''From Protest to Politics'', which examined the evolving economic landscape and its impact on [[African Americans|Black Americans]]. In the article, Rustin argued that the rise of [[automation]] would reduce the availability of low-skill, high-paying jobs, thereby threatening the position of the urban Black working class, particularly in the [[Northern United States]]. He advocated for a strategic shift in political engagement, urging the Black community to strengthen alliances with predominantly white labor unions and other institutions, such as churches and synagogues, to pursue a shared economic agenda. Rustin described this transition as a move "from [[protest]] to politics".<ref name=RustinFPTP>Rustin wrote the following reports:
* ''Civil rights: the true frontier'' New York, N.Y.: Donald Press, 1963
* ''From protest to politics: the future of the civil rights movement'' New York: League for Industrial Democracy, 1965
* ''The labor-Negro coalition, a new beginning'' [Washington? D.C. : American Federationist?, 1968
* ''Conflict or coalition?: the civil rights struggle and the trade union movement today'' New York, A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1969.</ref>

Rustin opposed [[identity politics]] in the Black community and the [[Black power movement|Black Power movement]]. He saw it as an ideology common among middle-class Black Americans, echoing earlier [[Black nationalism|Black nationalist]] movements he considered misguided. He believed it risked alienating white allies, whom he viewed as essential to achieving broader political goals.<ref name="RustinSeparatism">Rustin wrote the following reports:

* ''The Watts "Manifesto" & the McCone report.'' New York, League for Industrial Democracy 1966
* [http://solomon.bltc.alexanderstreet.com/cgi-bin/asp/philo/bltc/getvolume.pl?S8273 ''Separatism or integration, which way for America?: a dialogue''] (with [[Robert Browne (professor)|Robert Browne]]) New York, A. Philip Randolph Educational Fund, 1968
* ''Black studies: myths & realities'' (contributor) New York, A. Philip Randolph Educational Fund, 1969
* [http://solomon.bltc.alexanderstreet.com/cgi-bin/asp/philo/bltc/getvolume.pl?S8274 ''Three essays''] New York, A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1969
* ''A word to black students'' New York, A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1970
* ''The failure of black separatism'' New York, A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1970</ref>

SDUSA publications echoed similar criticisms regarding the increasing influence of middle-class activists within the Democratic Party. Members expressed concern over what they viewed as the disproportionate influence of peace activists associated with the “New Politics” movement, particularly those aligned with Senator [[George McGovern]]. McGovern's 1972 presidential candidacy was characterized by SDUSA members as detrimental to both the Democratic Party and the United States.<ref name="NYTimes2" /><ref name="Bloodworth147">{{harvtxt|Bloodworth|2013|p=147}}</ref>

The founding leadership of SDUSA generally supported an immediate end to the bombing of [[North Vietnam]] and advocated for a negotiated settlement to conclude the [[Vietnam War]]. However, the majority opposed a unilateral withdrawal of American forces, warning that such an action could result in the destruction of independent labor unions and political opposition groups in South Vietnam.<ref name="NYTimes2" /><ref>These positions had been advanced by organizations like "[[Penn Kemble#Negotiations Now!|Negotiations Now!]]" since the 1960s.</ref><ref name="Gershman">{{cite journal|last=Gershman|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Gershman|title=Totalitarian menace (Controversies: Detente and the left after Afghanistan)|journal=Society|date=November 3, 1980|issn=0147-2011|pages=9–15|volume=18|issue=1|doi=10.1007/BF02694835|s2cid=189883991}}</ref> Following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and the subsequent victory of the [[Communist Party of Vietnam]] and the [[Viet Cong]], SDUSA supported humanitarian aid for refugees and criticized Senator McGovern for his lack of support for such assistance.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The View from Washington|journal=Asian Affairs|volume=6|number=2|date=November–December 1978|pages=134–135|jstor=30171704|doi=10.1080/00927678.1978.10553935}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Carl|last=Gershman|url=https://archive.org/details/AfterTheDominoesFell|title=After the dominoes fell|journal=Commentary|date=May 1978|series=SD papers|volume=3|author-link=Carl Gershman}}</ref>

SDUSA also sought to influence electoral politics through candidate endorsements. At its 1976 national convention in [[New York City]], the group endorsed the Democratic presidential ticket of [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Walter Mondale]], committing to work actively for their election.<ref>"Freedom, Economic Justice Themes of SD Convention," ''New America'' [New York], vol. 13, no. 15 (Aug.-Sept. 1976), pg. 1.</ref>

SDUSA opposed the [[New Left]], attributing Democratic Party candidate [[George McGovern]]’s loss in the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 presidential election]] in part to the movement's influence.

=== 1980s ===
SDUSA published a newsletter and occasional position papers. The organization issued public statements in support of labor unions, both domestically and internationally, and also expressed support for [[Zionism]], the [[Israel|State of Israel]], and the Israeli labor movement.<ref name="Challenge">{{citation|url=https://archive.org/details/TheAmericanChallengeASocial-democraticProgramForTheSeventies|title=The American challenge: A social-democratic program for the seventies|location=New York|publisher=SDUSA|year=1973|author=Social Democrats, USA<!-- |author-link=Social Democrats, USA -->}}</ref>

From 1979 to 1989, SDUSA organized support for [[Solidarity]], the [[Independent union|independent labor union]] of [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]].<ref name="Mahler">{{citation|last=Mahler|first=Jonathan<!-- "Mr. Mahler is managing editor of the Forward newspaper" -->|date=November 19, 1997|title=Labor's crisis—and its opportunity|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=http://www.laborers.org/WJS_11-19a-97.html}}</ref> Tom Kahn, who organized the AFL–CIO's support for Solidarity and was affiliated with SDUSA, argued that the [[democracy promotion]] should extend to countries under Soviet influence.<ref name="KahnDoubleStandards">{{citation<!-- Allows "others=" unlike cite journal. --> |last=Kahn |first=Tom |title=Beyond the double standard: A social democratic view of the authoritarianism versus totalitarianism debate |date=July 1985 |journal=New America |url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1389820828d12Kahn.pdf |others=January 1985 speech to the 'Democratic Solidarity Conference' organized by the Young Social Democrats (YSD) under the auspices of the Foundation for Democratic Education |publisher=Social Democrats, USA |format=PDF |author-link=Tom Kahn}}

: Reprinted: {{cite journal |last=Kahn |first=Tom<!-- |author-link=Tom Kahn --> |year=2008 |title=Beyond the double standard: A social democratic view of the authoritarianism versus totalitarianism debate |url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1389820828d12Kahn.pdf |journal=Democratiya (Merged into Dissent in 2009) |volume=12 |issue=Spring |pages=152–160 |orig-year=1985}}</ref> In 1981, leading Social Democrats advocated using economic aid to Poland as leverage to promote [[freedom of association]].<ref>Domber [https://books.google.com/books?id=Grtub61ScTgC&q=kirkpatrick], with revision and typeset [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlk7BAAAQBAJ&q=Kirkpatrick]</ref>

During the [[1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries]], which included a challenge from [[Ted Kennedy]] against incumbent President Carter, SDUSA took a less prominent role and postponed its convention until after the general election. The election of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]] was attributed by the organization to the Democratic Party's failure to maintain support from its traditional working-class base.<ref>"Social Democracy Faces Crucial Era," ''New America'' [New York], vol 17, no. 11 (December 1980), pg. 1.</ref>

In early 1980, [[Carl Gershman]], who had long served as SDUSA's National Director, resigned and was succeeded by [[Rita Freedman]], who had previously been the organizer and chair of the organization's New York local.<ref name="NewDir">"Rita Freedman New SD Director," ''New America'' [New York], vol. 17, no. 2 (Feb. 1980), pg. 12.</ref>

=== 1990s ===
Michael Harrington and Tom Kahn had both been associated with Marxist theorist [[Max Shachtman]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Muravchik|2006|<!-- p= ONLINE -->}}. Addressing the allegation that SDUSUA was a "Trotskyist" organization, Muravchik wrote that in the early 1960s, two future members of SDUSA, [[Tom Kahn]] and [[Paul Feldman]]: <blockquote>"became devotees of a former Trotskyist named Max Shachtman—a fact that today has taken on a life of its own. Tracing forward in lineage through me and a few other ex-YPSL's [members of the [[Young People's Socialist League (1907)|Young Peoples Socialist League]]] turned neoconservatives, this happenstance has fueled the accusation that neoconservatism itself, and through it the foreign policy of the Bush administration, are somehow rooted in 'Trotskyism.'

I am more inclined to laugh than to cry over this, but since the myth has traveled so far, let me briefly try once more, as I have done at greater length in the past, to set the record straight.[See "The Neoconservative Cabal," ''Commentary'', September 2003] The alleged connective chain is broken at every link. The falsity of its more recent elements is readily ascertainable by anyone who cares for the truth—namely, that George Bush was never a neoconservative and that most neoconservatives were never YPSL's. The earlier connections are more obscure but no less false. Although Shachtman was one of the elder statesmen who occasionally made stirring speeches to us, no YPSL of my generation was a Shachtmanite. What is more, our mentors, Paul and Tom, had come under Shachtman's sway years after he himself had ceased to be a Trotskyite.</blockquote></ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 8, 2011 |title=A saving remnant |url=http://archive.org/details/savingremnantrad00dube |publisher=New Press |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Isserman |first=Maurice |date=January 8, 2000 |title=The other American : the life of Michael Harrington |url=http://archive.org/details/otheramericanlif0000isse |publisher=New York : PublicAffairs |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Internal divisions within the AFL–CIO in 1995 were described as a split between “Shachtmanite” Social Democrats, who supported [[Lane Kirkland]] and Thomas Donahue, and the “Harringtonite” Democratic Socialists of America, who supported [[John Sweeney (labor leader)|John Sweeney]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kahlenberg |first=Richard D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZM2AAAAQBAJ&q=social+democrats+usa |title=Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy |date=August 30, 2007 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231509091 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>In 1982 Harrington's [[Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee]] reformed as the [[Democratic Socialists of America]].

* John Haer, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QwgOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=l20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5206,38030&dq=democratic+socialists+of+america+democratic-socialists-of-america&hl=en "Reviving Socialism,"] ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,'' May 1, 1982. Retrieved November 9, 2009.</ref>

=== Hiatus and 2005 re-foundation ===
Following the death of the organization's ''Notesonline'' editor [[Penn Kemble]] on October 15, 2005, SDUSA entered a period of organizational inactivity.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801743.html "Political Activist Penn Kemble Dies at 64,"] ''The Washington Post'', October 19, 2005, pg. B07.</ref> During this hiatus, no additional issues of the online newsletter were produced, and the organization's website was no longer updated.<ref>See: [http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/oldsite/index-2.html Social Democrats, USA, official website], www.socialdemocratsusa.org/ Retrieved May 26, 2011, currently broken.</ref>

After several years of inactivity, efforts were made to revive the organization. In 2008, a group initially composed primarily of SDUSA members from [[Pennsylvania]] initiated the process of re-establishing the organization.<ref name="Hacker">{{Cite web |title=Heritage {{!}} Socialist Currents |url=http://socialistcurrents.org/?page_id=621 |access-date=2025-04-18 |language=en-US}}</ref> A re-founding convention was held on May 3, 2009, during which a new National Executive Committee was elected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Organization {{!}} Socialist Currents |url=http://socialistcurrents.org/?page_id=6 |access-date=2025-04-18 |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== 2009 split ===
In 2009, internal disagreements split SDUSA. A faction based in [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]], separated from the newly elected National Executive Committee. The Johnstown-based group adopted the name Social Democrats, USA – Socialist Party USA,<ref>[http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/ Social Democrats-Socialist Party USA official website], www.socialdemocratsusa.org/ Retrieved May 26, 2011 (Dead link).</ref> while the other continued under the name Social Democrats, USA.<ref>[http://socialdemocrats.org/ Social Democrats, USA, official website], www.socialdemocrats.org/ Retrieved February 27, 2014.</ref>

== Controversies ==
{{POV section|date=November 2021}}

=== Neoconservatism ===
Some members of SDUSA, including [[Penn Kemble]] and [[Joshua Muravchik]], were associated with [[neoconservatism]].

[[Michael Harrington]] asserted that SDUSA exhibited an “obsessive [[anti-communism]]" which, in his view, rendered the organization politically right-wing.<ref name="Bloodworth148">{{harvtxt|Bloodworth|2013|p=148}}</ref>

Author Justin Vaïsse has referred to some members of SDUSA as right-wing social democrats,<ref name="Vaisse91">{{Cite book |last=Vaïsse |first=Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3b7syYOqskC&q=%22Social+Democrats%22+OR+SDUSA,+right |title=Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement |date=2010-05-21 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-05051-8 |language=en}}</ref> a characterization described as a taunt by [[Ben Wattenberg]].<ref name="Wattenberg">{{cite news|date=April 22, 1992|first=Ben|last=Wattenberg|author-link=Ben Wattenberg|title=A man whose ideas helped change the world|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|access-date=19 November 2011|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/04/22/a-man-whose-ideas-helped-change-the-world/|id=Syndicated: (Thursday April 23, 1993). "[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=110504812 Remembering a man who mattered]". ''The Indiana Gazette'' p. 2 (pdf format)}}</ref>

In 2013, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' identified some former SDUSA members as neoconservatives.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=August 28, 2013 |title=Meet Bayard Rustin, the gay socialist pacifist who planned the 1963 March on Washington |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/28/meet-the-gay-socialist-pacifist-who-planned-the-1963-march-on-washington/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |via=}}</ref>

[[Joshua Muravchik]], a former SDUSA member, has identified as a neoconservative.<ref name="MuravchikWeNeoconservatives">{{citation|first=Joshua|last=Muravchik|author-link=Joshua Muravchik|journal=Foreign Policy|title=Operation comeback|date=November–December 2006|url=http://www.icpcolombia.org/carteleras/cartelera_08/g/operation_comeback.pdf |ref=none}}</ref> At the 2003 SDUSA conference, Muravchik's pro-war remarks were met with criticism from several SDUSA members.<ref name="MeyersonDissent"/><ref name="Marshall">[http://forward.com/articles/8856/debs-s-heirs-reassemble-to-seek-renewed-role-as/#ixzz3UBpBsMXF Joshua Micah Marshall, "Debs's Heirs Reassemble To Seek Renewed Role as Hawks of Left" The Jewish Daily Forward, May 23, 2003].</ref> Rachelle Horowitz, an SDUSA figure and event organizer, objected to his use of "us and them" rhetoric and his invocation of the term "evil." Other attendees, including [[Jeffrey Herf]] and [[Paul Berman]], voiced similar criticisms.

=== Influence on United States foreign policy ===
Leaders from SDUSA have served in various presidential administrations since the 1980s. The participation of some members in Republican administrations has been a subject of controversy. Journalist Mark {{harvtxt|Massing|1987}} referred to SDUSA members such as [[Carl Gershman]] as “[[United States Department of State|State Department]] socialists,” and in 1987 claimed that the [[foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration]] was being influenced by [[Trotskyism|Trotskyists]]. This claim was characterized as a “myth” by political sociologist Seymour Martin {{harvtxt|Lipset|1988|p=34}} in 1988.<ref name="Lip34">"A 1987 article in ''The New Republic'' described these developments as a Trotskyist takeover of the Reagan administration" wrote {{harvtxt|Lipset|1988|p=34}}.</ref>

The association between former Trotskyists and U.S. foreign policy was expanded upon in 2003 by journalist [[Michael Lind]], who argued that individuals with Trotskyist origins had exerted significant influence over the [[foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The weird men behind George&nbsp;W. Bush's war|first=Michael|last=Lind|journal=New Statesman|date=April 7, 2003|url=http://www.oss.net/dynamaster/file_archive/030408/d431cc57ce9014da63b65ea39c1fd657/8%20Apr%2003%20The%20weird%20men%20behind%20George%20W%20Bush.doc|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927131121/http://www.oss.net/dynamaster/file_archive/030408/d431cc57ce9014da63b65ea39c1fd657/8%20Apr%2003%20The%20weird%20men%20behind%20George%20W%20Bush.doc|archive-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Lind's "amalgamation of the defense intellectuals with the traditions and theories of "the largely Jewish-American Trotskyist movement [in Lind's words]" was criticized in 2003 by University of Michigan professor Alan M. Wald,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wald |first=Alan |author-link=Alan M. Wald |date=27 June 2003 |title=Are Trotskyites Running the Pentagon? |url=http://hnn.us/articles/1514.html |journal=History News Network}}</ref> Wald, who had discussed Trotskyism and neoconservatism in his history of "[[The New York Intellectuals|the New York intellectuals]]"<!-- Annotation by editor of journal, so not OR. --> objected to the amalgamation of ideological and ethnic categories.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wald |first=Alan M. |title=The New York intellectuals: The rise and decline of the anti-Stalinist left from the 1930s to the 1980s' |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-8078-4169-3}}</ref> Allegations that former Trotskyists influenced Bush-era foreign policy, including references to SDUSA, have also appeared in writings by paleoconservatives.<ref>{{cite journal|last=King|first=William|title=Neoconservatives and 'Trotskyism'|journal=American Communist History|volume=3|number=2|pages=247–266|year=2004|doi=10.1080/1474389042000309817|s2cid=162356558|issn=1474-3906}}<p>{{cite journal|last=King|first=Bill|title=Neoconservatives and Trotskyism. The question of 'Shachtmanism'|journal=Enter Stage Right: Politics, Culture, Economics|number=3|pages=1–2|url=http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0304/0304neocontrotp1.htm|issn=1488-1756|date=March 22, 2004}}</p></ref>

== Election results ==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2025}}
SDUSA has fielded [[Elections in the United States|electoral candidates]] for [[Local government in the United States|local]], [[State governments of the United States|state]], and [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] offices. SDUSA endorses [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] party members, many of which are also endorsed by the [[Democratic Socialists of America]]. Because SDUSA endorses candidates who may not accept the endorsement, only those candidates who clearly accepted the endorsement, campaigned with SDUSA, or are SDUSA members are included below.

== Conventions ==
{|class="wikitable" style="Background:#fff;"
|-
!Convention
!Location
!Date
!Notes and references
|-
| 1973 National Conference
| [[Hopewell Junction, New York]]
| September 21–23, 1973
|From registration ad, ''New America'', July 30, 1973, p.&nbsp;7.
|-
| 1974 National Convention
| [[New York City]]
| September 6–8, 1974
|125 delegates, keynote speaker Walter Laqueur. Per ''New America'', August 20, 1974, p.&nbsp;8.
|-
| 1976 National Convention
| [[New York City]]
| July 17–18, 1976
|500 delegates and observers, keynote speaker Sidney Hook. Per ''New America'', August–September 1976, p.&nbsp;1.
|-
| 1978 National Convention
| [[New York City]]
| September 8–10, 1978
|Introductory report by Carl Gershman. Per ''New America'', October 1978, p.&nbsp;1.
|-
| 1980 National Convention
| [[New York City]]
| November 21–23, 1980
|Per ''New America'', December 1980, p.&nbsp;1.
|-
| 1982 National Convention
| [[Washington, D.C.]]
| December 3–5, 1982
|Keynote speech by Albert Shanker. Dates per ''New America'', October 1982, p.&nbsp;8.
|-
| 1985 National Convention
| [[Washington, D.C.]]
| June 14–16, 1985
|Keynote speech by Alfonso Robelo. Per ''New America'', November–December 1985, p.&nbsp;6.
|-
| 1987 National Convention
| 
| 
|
|-
| 1990 National Convention
| 
| 
|
|-
| 1994 National Convention
| 
| 
|
|-
| 2009 Reorganization Convention
|  
| May 3, 2009
| 
|-
| 2010 Convention
| Internet teleconference
| September 1, 2010
| Guest speakers Herb Engstrom of the California Democratic Party Executive Committee and Roger Clayman, Executive Director of the Long Island Labor Federation.<ref>[http://socialistcurrents.org/?p=264 "2010 National Convention,"] Socialist Currents, www.socialistcurrents.org/</ref>
|-
| 2012 National Convention
| [[Buffalo, New York]]
| August 26–27, 2012
| Keynote address by Richard Lipsitz, Executive Director of the Western New York Labor Federation.<ref>[http://socialistcurrents.org/?p=1102 "2012 Convention Report,"] Socialist Currents, www.socialistcurrents.org/</ref>
|-
| 2014 Convention
| [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
| October 23–24, 2014
|
|-
|2023 National Convention
|[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
|September 1–6, 2023
|Speakers included [[Imre Komjáthi]], co-chair of the [[Hungarian Socialist Party]], former Democratic statehouse representative in [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]], [[Aaron Coleman]], and Godden Zama, representative of the [[Social Democratic Front (Cameroon)]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-25 |title=OUR NATIONAL CONVENTION SCHEDULE {{!}} Socialist Currents |url=https://socialistcurrents.org/?p=4240 |access-date=2023-09-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Socialism|Organized labor}}
* [[American Left]]
* [[Democratic Socialists of America]]
* [[Socialist Party of America]]
* [[Green Party of the United States]]
* [[History of left-wing politics in the United States]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* {{citation|title=AFL-CIO support for Solidarity: Political, financial, moral|first=Eric|last=Chenoweth|publisher=Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE)|location=Washington DC|
url=http://www.idee.org/AFLCIO%20Support%20for%20Solidarity_FN.doc|date=October 2010}}.
* {{cite book|first=George|last=Morris|url=https://archive.org/details/SocialDemocrats-usaInTheServiceOfReactionARecordOfRacismLow|title="Social Democrats-USA" in the service of reaction: A record of racism, low wages, bureaucracy and betrayal of socialism|location=New York|publisher=New Outlook Publishers|year=1976|id=<small>—"A polemic against the SDUSA published by the [[Communist Party, USA]]"</small>}}
* {{cite magazine|title=The holy alliance: Ronald Reagan and John Paul II<!-- on-line abbreviated title -->; How Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland's Solidarity movement and hasten the demise of Communism <!-- printed, according to citations --> (Cover story)|url=http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_holy_alliance.php|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |edition=U.S. |date=February 24, 1992 |first=Carl|last=Bernstein|author-link=Carl Bernstein|pages=28–35}}
* {{cite book|last=Bloodworth|first=Jeffrey|title=Losing the center: The decline of American liberalism, 1968–1992|year=2013|publisher=The University Press of Kentucky|location=Lexington, Kentucky|isbn=978-0813142296|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVgyIh320sUC}}
* {{cite book|title=Supporting the revolution: America, democracy, and the end of the Cold War in Poland, 1981–1989|first=Gregory&nbsp;F.|last=Domber<!-- http://www.unf.edu/coas/history/Faculty.aspx -->|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-38516-5|id=[http://www.gwu.edu/~history/graduate_programs/Achievements.cfm Winner of the "2009 Betty M. Unterberger Prize for Best Dissertation on United States Foreign Policy from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations"]|pages=1–506|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Grtub61ScTgC|type=Ph.D. dissertation (September 12, 2007), [[George&nbsp;Washington University]]}} Revised and incorporated in {{cite book|title=Empowering Revolution: America, Poland, and the End of the Cold War|series=The New Cold War History|first=Gregory F.|last=Domber|publisher=University of North Carolina Press books|year=2014|isbn=9781469618517|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlk7BAAAQBAJ&q=Gershman%20OR%20Kemble%20OR%20Kahn%20OR%20Horowitz%20OR%20Chenoweth}}
* {{cite journal|last=Gershman|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Gershman|title=Totalitarian menace (Controversies: Detente and the left after Afghanistan)|journal=Society|date=November 3, 1980|issn=0147-2011|pages=9–15|volume=18|issue=1|doi=10.1007/BF02694835|s2cid=189883991}}
* {{cite journal|last=Harrington|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Harrington|title=Nuclear threat (Controversies: Detente and the left after Afghanistan)|journal=Society|date=November 3, 1980|issn=0147-2011|pages=16–21|volume=18|issue=1|doi=10.1007/BF02694836|s2cid=189885851}}
* {{cite journal|title=Tom Kahn and the Fight for Democracy: A Political Portrait and Personal Recollection|first=Rachelle|last=Horowitz|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1389822103d11Horowitz.pdf<!-- http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/oldsite/Kahn.html -->|journal=Democratiya (Merged with Dissent in 2009)|issue=Winter|volume=11<!--|issue=Summer|year=2005 last citation is to 2005 publications -->|year=2007|pages=204–251}}
* {{cite journal|url-status=dead|title=How to support ''Solidarnosc'': A debate|others=sponsored by the [[Committee for the Free World]] and the [[League for Industrial Democracy]], with introduction by [[Midge Decter]] and moderation by [[Carl Gershman]], held at the Polish Institute for Arts and Sciences, New York City in March 1981|last1=Kahn|first1=Tom|last2=Podhoretz|first2=Norman|author-link2=Norman Podhoretz|journal=Democratiya (Merged with Dissent in 2009)|volume=13|date=Summer 2008|pages=230–261|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/docs/d13Whole.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117203844/http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/docs/d13Whole.pdf|archive-date=November 17, 2011}}
* {{cite journal|last=Lipset|first=Seymour|author-link=Seymour Martin Lipset|title=Neoconservatism: Myth and reality|journal=Society|date=July 4, 1988|issn=0147-2011|pages=29–37|volume=25|number=5|doi=10.1007/BF02695739|s2cid=144110677|url=https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/18451 }}
* {{cite magazine|title=Trotsky's orphans: From Bolshevism to Reaganism|last=Massing|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Massing|magazine=The New Republic|pages=18–22|year=1987}}
* {{cite journal|first=Joshua|last=Muravchik|author-link=Joshua Muravchik|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/comrades/|title=Comrades|journal=Commentary Magazine|date=January 2006|access-date=June 15, 2007}}
* {{cite journal|title=Surviving the underground: How American unions helped solidarity win|first=Arch|last=Puddington<!-- |author-link=Arch Puddington -->|journal=American Educator|issue=Summer|year=2005|url=http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/summer2005/puddington.cfm|access-date=June 4, 2011}}
* {{cite journal|title=The AFL-CIO and Poland's Solidarity|first=James&nbsp;M.|last=Shevis|journal=World Affairs|volume=144|number=1|date=Summer 1981|pages=31–35|jstor=20671880}}

=== SDUSA publications ===
* {{citation|author=Social Democrats, USA|url=https://archive.org/details/ForTheRecord1973|title=For the record: The report by the Social Democrats, USA on the resignation of Michael Harrington and his attempt to split the American socialist movement|location=New York|publisher=Social Democrats USA|year=1973|id=undated pamphlet, certainly no earlier than 1973}}.
* {{cite book|author=Social Democrats, USA|title=The American challenge: A social-democratic<!-- the hyphen appears on the title page, trumping the hyphen-less cover --> program for the seventies|url=https://archive.org/details/TheAmericanChallengeASocial-democraticProgramForTheSeventies|location=<!-- Suite&nbsp;802, 1182 Broadway, -->New&nbsp;York<!-- 10001 -->|publisher=<!--unusual and inconsistent punctuation: Not "Social Democrats, USA" but -->S.D.&nbsp;U.S. and [[Young People's Socialist League (1907)|YPSL]]|orig-year=copyright&nbsp;1973|date=December 1972}}<small> "The following program was adopted at the Social Democrats,&nbsp;U.S.A. and Young People's Socialist League conventions at the end of December, 1972".</small>
* {{citation|first=Sidney|last=Hook|author-link=Sidney Hook|url=http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/docs/d3Whole.pdf|id=[https://archive.org/details/TheSocialDemocraticProspect Alternative source]|title=The social&nbsp;democratic prospect|others=originally entitled "The social &nbsp;democratic prospect: Social democracy and America"|orig-year=July 17–18, 1976|year=2005|pages=63–76|journal=Democratiya, Archived by Dissent|issue=Winter|volume=3}}.
* {{cite book|title=Capitalism, socialism, and democracy|first1=Sidney|last1=Hook|author-link1=Sidney Hook|first2=Bayard|last2=Rustin|author-link2=Bayard Rustin|first3=Carl|last3=Gershman|author-link3=Carl Gershman|first4=Penn|last4=Kemble|author-link4=Penn Kemble|url=https://archive.org/details/CapitalismSocialismAndDemocracy |location=New York|publisher=Social Democrats, USA|year=1978|series=SD Papers|volume=1|id=Reprinted from ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'' (April 1978) pp.&nbsp;29–71}}
* [[Bayard Rustin]] and Carl Gershman, [https://archive.org/details/AfricaSovietImperialismAndTheRetreatOfAmericanPower ''Africa, Soviet imperialism and the retreat of American power.''] New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. <small>(SD papers #2).</small>
* {{cite journal|first=Carl|last=Gershman|url=https://archive.org/details/AfterTheDominoesFell|title=After the dominoes fell|date=May 1978|series=SD papers|volume=3|journal=Commentary|author-link=Carl Gershman}}
* Carl Gershman [https://archive.org/details/TheWorldAccordiingToAndrewYoung ''The world according to Andrew Young.''] New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. <small>(SD papers #4).</small>
* [[Leszek Kołakowski]] and Sidney Hook, [https://archive.org/details/TheSocialDemocraticChallengeAResponseToConservatism ''The social democratic challenge.''] New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. <small>(SD papers #5).</small>
* Carl Gershman, ''Selling them the rope: Business and the Soviets.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1979. <small>(SD papers #6).</small>
* [[Lane Kirkland]] and Rita Freedman, ''Building on the past for the future.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1981.
* ''Social Democrats, USA: Standard bearers for freedom, democracy, and economic justice.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, n.d. [1980s].
* ''A challenge to the Democratic Party.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1983.
* [[Alfonso Robelo]], [https://archive.org/details/TheNicaraguanDemocraticStruggleOurUnfinishedRevolution ''The Nicaraguan democratic struggle: Our unfinished revolution.''] New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1983. <small>(SD papers #8).</small>
* ''Scabs renamed, permanent replacements. '' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1990.
* [https://archive.org/details/OnForeignPolicyAndDefense ''On foreign policy and defense.''] Washington, D.C. : Social Democrats, USA, 1990.
* ''SD, USA statement on the economy.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
* ''Child labor, US style.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
* ''Child labor, an international abuse.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
* John T. Joyce, ''Expanding economic democracy.'' New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
* Rita Freedman, [https://archive.org/details/DoesAmericaNeedASocialDemocraticMovement ''Does America need a social democratic movement?''] Washington, DC: Social Democrats, USA, 1993.
* [http://www.socialdemocratsusa.org/oldsite/whyintro.html ''Why America needs a social democratic movement.''] Washington, DC : Social Democrats, USA, 1993.
* [https://archive.org/details/TheFutureOfSocialism ''The future of socialism.''] San Jose, CA: San Francisco Bay Area Local of Social Democrats, USA, 1994.

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://socialistcurrents.org/ ''Socialist Currents'']
* Archives:
** [https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/socdem "Preliminary Inventory of the Social Democrats, USA Records, 1937–1994"]. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University. Durham, North Carolina.
** Dale Reed (1999). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110807055652/http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/1b/tf167n981b/files/tf167n981b.pdf "Register of the Carl Gershman Papers"] (PDF). Hoover Institution Archives. Stanford University. Stanford, California.
** Dale Reed (2010). [http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/9d/tf1t1n989d/files/tf1t1n989d.pdf "Register of the Albert Glotzer Papers"] (PDF). Hoover Institution Archives. Stanford University, Stanford, California.

{{Social democracy}}
{{Socialist Party of America}}
{{United States political parties}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Democrats USA}}
[[Category:Social Democrats, USA| ]]
[[Category:Anti-communist organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Anti-Sovietism in the United States]]
[[Category:Center-left parties in the United States]]
[[Category:Democratic socialist organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Political organizations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Social democratic organizations in the United States]]