The Socialist Party of the United States of America (SPUSA) is one of the heirs to the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It is a democratic socialist, multi-tendency party, advocating a democratic social revolution from below instead of a violent revolution where the party would merely seize power. Their youth affiliate is the Young People's Socialist League.

It was formed in 1973 after the Socialist Party of America was taken over by Shachtmanites and renamed the Social Democrats USA. A separate group, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, also split off in 1973 (later to become the Democratic Socialists of America and is also active in political causes. All three organizations claim to be the heir apparent to Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas.

In 1980, the SPUSA became the first party to nominate an openly gay man for President – pacifist David McReynolds. He would run for a second time in 2000. In the past few years, the SP has grown from 600 members to nearly 1,500. And Socialists have surprised many in a number of recent elections, most notably in Milwaukee, where Socialist Wendell Harris received 20% of the vote for mayor. In Oregon, candidate for partisan office David Gillette received 26% of the vote when running for State House of Representatives.

The Socialist Party USA is significant in American politics in that it is the only explicitly democratic socialist party in the United States. It is as equally against Soviet-style Communism as it is anti-capitalist.

Some SPUSA members favor an evolutionary approach to socialism, favoring a social democratic transition period; they site the social democratic systems of nations like Sweden as examples of "socialism in action". Others favor a more radical or revolutionary transformation of society from capitalist to socialist.

The Socialist Party USA now focuses mostly on grassroots and local politics. Their "Socialist Summer Campaign" in 2004 has focused on issues such as fighting to end the military-industrial complex and post-9/11 immigrant detentions, and promoting civil liberties and civil rights.

See also: List of political parties in the United States

Presidential candidates

• 1976 - Frank P. Zeidler 6,038 votes
• 1980 - David McReynolds 6,968 votes
• 1988 - Willa Kenoyer 3,882 votes
• 1992 - J. Quinn Brisben 3,057 votes
• 1996 - Mary Cal Hollis 4,764 votes
• 2000 - David McReynolds 7,746 votes
• 2004 - Walter F. Brown 10,834 votes

External links

Official:

• Socialist Party USA (http://www.sp-usa.org)

Affiliates:

• Young People's Socialist League (http://www.ypsl.org)

Campaigns:

• The Iraq antiwar campaign (http://www.sp-usa.org/campaigns/iraq.html)
• The struggle for peace in the Middle East (http://www.sp-usa.org/campaigns/middle-east.html)
• Repeal the Hyde Amendment (http://www.sp-usa.org/repealhyde/)
• Million Worker March (http://www.sp-usa.org/mwm.html)
• Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and Anti-Detention Campaign (http://www.freethedetainees.org)
• Slash The Military Budget Campaign (http://www.sp-usa.org/socialistsummer2004/militaryspending/)

Caucuses & Tendencies:

• Debs Tendency (http://www.debstendency.org)
• Direct Action Tendency (http://www.actiontendency.net)

Commissions:

• Labor Commission (http://www.sp-usa.org/labor/)
• People of Color Commission (http://www.sp-usa.org/poc/poc.html)
• Queer Commission (http://sp-usa.org/queer/queercom.html)

Elections:

• Socialist Party USA Campaign Clearinghouse (http://www.votesocialist.org)
• Official Brown-Herbert 2004 for President (http://www.waltbrownforpresident.org/)
• Alternate Brown-Herbert 2004 for President (http://www.walt-brown-for-president.org/)
• New Jersey: Tino Rozzo for U.S. Congress (2nd District) (http://www.stormpages.com/oracles1/voterozzo.htm)
• New Jersey: Greg Pason for U.S. Congress (5th District) (http://www.pason2004.org)
• New York: David McReynolds for U.S. Senate (http://www.mcreynoldsforsenate.org)
• Oregon: Morgan for Oregon House and Brown for U.S. House (http://www.thesocialistparty.org/spo/campaign.html)

Publications:

• The Socialist
• The California Call (http://www.sp-usa.org/spca/call/)
• The Michigan Socialist (http://news.mi-socialists.org)
• Oregon Socialist (http://news.thesocialistparty.org/spo/pob/)

State Chapters & Locals:

• Chicago Socialist Party (http://www.chicagosocialistparty.com/)
• Denver Socialist Party (http://www.denversocialistparty.org/)
• Detroit Socialist Party (http://detroit.mi-socialists.org/)
• Socialist Party of Arizona (http://arizona_socialist.tripod.com/arizonasocialistparty/)
• Socialist Party of California (http://www.sp-usa.org/spca/)
• Socialist Party of Florida (http://www.socialistpartyflorida.org/)
• Socialist Party of Greater Philadelphia (http://www.sp-usa.org/spogp/)
• Socialist Party of Iowa (http://www.iowasocialistparty.org/)
• Socialist Party of Michigan (http://www.spmichigan.org/)
• Socialist Party of New Jersey (http://www.njsocialistparty.org/)
• [Socialist Party of North Carolina (http://www.ncsocialist.org)]
• Socialist Party of New York City (http://www.newyorksocialists.org/)
• Socialist Party of Oregon (http://www.thesocialistparty.org/)
• Socialist Party of Pennsylvania (http://www.sp-usa.org/sppa/)
• Socialist Party of the Rio Grande Valley (Partido Socialista del Valle) (http://www.geocities.com/sprgv/)
• Socialist Party of Texas (http://www.sp-usa.org/lonestar/)

Related Articles

• The Socialist magazine
• Socialist Party of North Carolina