Caucuses

DSA is a big tent organization, meaning that it is a multi-tendency organization, composed of Marxists, anarchists, nondescript leftists, and generally anyone committed to socialism and rejecting both the capitalist status quo and progressive liberalism.

As a democratic organization, members of similar political tendencies organize together to advance their shared vision for the organization as a whole, both at the national and chapter level. When these groups become formalized, with a name, committee structures, recruitment strategies, events, and more, they are called caucuses.

Caucuses are important to make these organizing projects transparent and out in the open. Caucuses serve as a vehicle for members who are aligned politically to develop their political understanding together, organize together, and advance their shared vision. In doing so, they put different visions and organizing strategies to the test. As these projects succeed or fail, particular caucuses wax or wane in influence, the political direction of the organization changes, and the politics of DSA develop – for instance, DSA goes from an organization supportive or ambivalent about Zionism to one that is firmly anti-Zionist.

Within DSA, there are over 10 caucuses. Typically, DSA caucuses will have a website, where you can read their Points of Unity, which lay out the shared vision of their members for the DSA, socialism, and the role of DSA in achieving socialism. You can find links to the websites of the major DSA caucuses below:

• 21st Century Socialism (21CS)
• Bread and Roses (BnR)
• Caracol
• Communist Caucus (Commie Caucus)
• Emerge
• Groundwork
• Liberation
• Libertarian Socialist Caucus (LSC)
• Marxist Unity Group (MUG)
• North Star
• Red Star
• Reform and Revolution (RnR)
• Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC)

Caucus Points of Unity are helpful in understanding where they stand on certain key issues – e.g., what they prioritize, their theory of change, and their stance on key issues such as electoral politics, labor and tenant organizing, and party-building. However, because DSA is a socialist organization and our members agree on many issues that are contentious outside of DSA, the differences between caucuses can be very subtle and are not always evident just from their Points of Unity alone.

Familiarizing oneself with the different caucuses involves:

• Reading the articles they publish
• Understanding the socialist traditions and leaders they take inspiration from
• Seeing what they prioritize in their organizing and where their members are most visible (e.g., labor organizing, electoral politics, building DSA internally)
• Seeing how they organize, govern, and the decisions they make as a caucus
• Seeing how their members relate to their chapters and DSA as a whole

Even the way caucuses approach recruitment is a significant difference between them. Often, caucuses will have an application form on their website. But they may not, and even if they do, sometimes there will be periods where a given caucus is not recruiting at all. When caucuses are recruiting, some caucuses are more selective than others, and different caucuses will prioritize different things in their applicants – e.g., organizing experience inside or outside DSA, relationships with existing caucus members, educational requirements, etc.

Because the differences between caucuses are so subtle, and because you want to give yourself time for your politics to develop as you organize within DSA, it is generally advisable not to join a caucus immediately upon joining DSA. If you are a new member, take time to familiarize yourself with how the different caucuses act within DSA, and how they interact with each other. If possible, talk to members of that caucus within the chapter for a more direct line of how their politics intersect with the goals and campaigns of the chapter.