The Democratic Socialists of America platform calls for ambitious reforms, including the adoption of a new constitution and allowing noncitizens to vote, according to its program for 2025 and 2026.
Socialists have been on the rise after candidates such as Melat Kiros and Darializa Avila Chevalier beat longtime Democratic incumbents and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated the Democratic establishment in last year’s mayoral race.
The DSA has backed anti-establishment views and candidates, claiming that neither political party represents “working people.”
“Today, working people have few good options,” the organization wrote. “In most political races, Americans will have the choice between far-right Republicans and corporate Democrats. In both cases, workers lose, and our politicians will remain controlled by their corporate donors, not the ordinary people who voted for them.”
Mamdani’s election gained national attention after he beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary. The Republican Party has since aimed to make him the face of the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections.
The platform includes priorities some factions of the Democratic Party have pushed for years, such as “Medicare for All,” college for all, and making unions more accessible. The DSA reached over 120,000 members, making it the largest socialist organization in American history.
“We have socialism already,” Kiros said on MS NOW. “It’s in the roads we drive on, the schools we send our kids to, the fire stations we call upon. I’m just asking that we extend that security to our healthcare, to our housing, to our nutritional food, to our higher education so that we’re actually meeting the basic needs of everyday working families in this country.”
A new constitution and allowing convicts and noncitizens to vote
The DSA’s platform says it wants to remake the federal government to be “by, for, and of the working class with powerful labor unions and social movements organizing in every city and town.”
To accomplish that goal, DSA calls for “a new democratic constitution that establishes civil, political, and democratic rights for all, is based on proportional representation in a single federal legislature, and ends the role of money in politics.”
The group also wants to abolish the Electoral College, expand the size of the House of Representatives, and allow convicts and noncitizens to vote. To get around checks and balances, DSA proposes to “limit the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review.”
32-hour workweek
The platform proposes a 32-hour workweek with “no reduction in pay or benefits.”
It also pushes college and housing “for all” through tuition-free higher education, as well as free room and board, and a “universal rent-control and the guaranteed right to counsel for all tenants.”
This platform also lays out a wealth tax, which includes raising taxes for the richest earners, for-profit corporations, large inheritances, and private colleges and universities.
Reduced military budget
The party calls for the ending of sanctions in places such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran, as well as an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza and “ending any military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel.”
It also calls to “end the war machine” by reducing military presence across the world.
Green New Deal
The platform pushes the “Green New Deal,” the policy framework that aims to tackle climate change and economic policy. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have been champions of this ideology.
“Massive public investment to transition away from fossil fuels toward a green and sustainable economy,” it says. “Guaranteed support for workers in the fossil fuel industry, massive infrastructure and jobs programs, and public ownership over major transportation and energy infrastructure and natural resources.”
DEMOCRATS LAY OUT INVESTIGATION PRIORITIES IF THEY RETAKE THE HOUSE
No deportations and demilitarized borders
The organization is pushing “freedom of movement” to allow for movement between countries without strict immigration control, as well as ending deportations.
“Demilitarize the border, end all immigrant detention and deportations, immediate amnesty for all immigrants regardless of current immigration status, and provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants,” the platform says.