Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee

The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC; /ˈdiːsɒk/ DEE-sok) was a democratic socialist organization in the United States.

The DSOC was founded in 1973 by Michael Harrington, who had led a minority caucus in the Socialist Party of America and disagreed with its transformation into Social Democrats, USA. Harrington's caucus supported George McGovern's call for a cease-fire and immediate withdrawal from Vietnam. In contrast to the traditional emphasis on strengthening the working class by organizing labor unions, Harrington reduced the emphasis on labor of previous socialist organizations. While continuing to work with unionists, Harrington instead placed more emphasis on middle-class political activists, especially those drawn to activism through the McGovern campaign. Developing a "realignment" strategy common to socialists since the 1960s, the DSOC tried to help to build a "democratic left" movement from the political movements participating in the Democratic Party.

In 1982, the DSOC merged with the New American Movement to form the Democratic Socialists of America.

History

Origins

After nearly a decade of internal acrimony, the Socialist Party of America-Social Democratic Federation was clearly headed for a split as the decade of the 1970s opened. While sharing a common antipathy to the worldwide Communist movement, the organization was divided over two primary issues:

1. Should democratic socialists call for either an immediate withdrawal of United States forces from Vietnam or a negotiated peace settlement along with an immediate end to the bombing of North Vietnam?
2. Should the democratic left continue its traditional focus of organizing the
   labor unions
   or should it shift its focus to (predominantly middle class) peace activists?

1972 Convention of the Socialist Party of America

In its 1972 convention, the

During the convention, the majority (Unity Caucus) won every vote by a ratio of two to one. The convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, eight seats for the Coalition Caucus of Michael Harrington, two for a Debs Caucus and one for the independent Samuel H. Friedman.^[4] Friedman and the minority caucuses had opposed the name change.^[2]

The convention voted on and adopted proposals for its program by a two-one vote. On foreign policy, the program called for "firmness toward Communist aggression". However, on the Vietnam War the program opposed "any efforts to bomb Hanoi into submission" and instead it endorsed negotiating a peace agreement, which should protect Communist political cadres in South Vietnam from further military or police reprisals. Harrington's proposal for a

Even before the convention,

Harrington's caucus in the SPA endorsed the New Politics movement and sought to expand that tendency into a viable left-wing pressure-group within the Democratic Party, advancing an explicitly socialist agenda and attempting to win influence over elected officials for that program. Harrington led many members of this caucus and from his networks to establish the DSOC in 1973.

Harrington, a former editor of the SPA's weekly newspaper, New America,^[6] was the most important figure in the establishment of DSOC. Harrington had resigned as National Co-Chairman of the SPA, many of whose leaders criticized McGovern, when Harrington focused his efforts on electing McGovern in October 1972.^[7]

In his first memoir, published in 1973, Harrington defended his choice of peace activists over trade unionists:

But in their derogatory comparison of this movement with the trade unionists, my comrades failed to notice two of its historic aspects. First, the anti-war young were right: Vietnam was not only an immoral conflict, it was counterproductive from all points of view, including that of progressive anti-Communism. Secondly, the new strata of the issue-oriented and college-educated who provided the mass bass for this phenomenon were, and are, extremely important to the creation of a new majority for change in this country.^[5]

At its start, the DSOC had 840 members, of which 2 percent served on its national board; approximately 200 had previously had membership in the SDUSA or its predecessors in 1973 when SDUSA stated its membership at 1,800, according to a 1973 profile of Harrington.^[8]

Publications

The publication that would eventually become the official organ of the DSOC, initially an eight-page letter-sized monthly called Newsletter of the Democratic Left, predated the formal establishment of the DSOC as a national organization in October 1973. The first issue of Newsletter of the Democratic Left (the name was later shortened to Democratic Left) appeared in March 1973 under the editorship of Mike Harrington, assisted by Jack Clark as Managing Editor.^[9] A front page essay by Harrington, entitled "The Shape of Our Politics", made nary a mention of the bitter faction fight within the SPA:

Liberalism is in transition. Important ideologists announce their 'deradicalization.'

On the other wing, many trade unionists and middle-class liberals have become aware of the need for structural change in our society. In the McGovern campaign, for instance, the frankly

redistributionist principle that revenue should be raised by levies on unearned incomes

was a major step forward.

On the campus there is a decline of activism, a revival of private concerns. The New Left is dead. But a large and serious constituency of the Left remains, even if unorganized and uncertain. If presented with a clear and reasoned perspective for basic change, it might be won to a lifetime commitment, even in the Nixon years; if not, it could vanish.

The Left, more than ever before, needs thought, self-criticism, candor, and communication. We hope this Newsletter will make a modest contribution to that end.^[9]

Democratic Left continues today as the publication of the Democratic Socialists of America, the organizational successor to the DSOC. The organization also published a number of issues of an internal discussion bulletin, containing typewritten content submitted by its members about various issues of concern.

Formal establishment

The June 1973 issue of Newsletter of the Democratic Left, the fourth monthly magazine off the press, announced to its subscribers that the never-before-mentioned National Board of the DSOC had issued a call for the launch of "a new, nationwide socialist organization".^[10] The founding convention of the DSOC was initially slated to begin on October 12, 1973 in New York City.^[10] For the first time, membership dues were solicited, with rates of $3.50 for students and $7.00 for regular membership accepted until January 1, 1974.^[10]

The Founding Convention was to be a three-day-long affair, beginning at 8 pm at the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium of

The final day saw the election of a governing National Board and ratification of a constitution for the new organization.[11]

Membership size and structure

According to the group's founder

The DSOC ceased to exist in 1982 when it merged with the New American Movement (NAM) to form the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Discussions with representatives of the NAM, a successor organization to Students for a Democratic Society, began as early as 1977.^[16] The move was favored by the DSOC's left-wing led by historian Jim Chapin which sought to bring into the DSOC many former participants in the New Left of the 1960s who were in search of a new home.^[16] The DSOC formally endorsed the idea of merger with the NAM at its 1979 Houston convention.^[17]

However, the proposal for merger generated vocal opposition. Forces on the organization's right-wing, led by Howe and calling themselves the Committee Against the NAM Merger (CATNAM), urged that instead of courting New Left survivors. the DSOC should instead continue to place its emphasis on outreach to larger forces in the labor movement and the Democratic Party. In addition to noting the NAM's deep distrust of the Democratic Party, many adherents of the CATNAM had grave misgivings about the NAM's position towards

The 1981 DSOC National Convention was marked by a very heated debate on the question of merger with the NAM, which was ultimately resolved by a vote of approximately 80% of the delegates in favor and none against, with the 20% or so supporting the CATNAM position abstaining.[18] Harrington later noted: "Our opponents wanted to indicate they were unhappy — and that they were staying".^[18]

The unity convention joining the NAM and the DSOC was held in Detroit in 1982 and the DSA was thereby established. The gathering was addressed by