Socialism

DSA has many important points to make about democracy and the Constitution. In 2021, we published a political platform that included demands to abolish the Senate and Electoral College through a second constitutional convention. Two years later, YDSA passed the Winning the Battle For Democracy resolution at its national convention, arguing, “The United States is run by and for the capitalist class, and this class rule takes the specific form of the liberal-constitutional regime outlined in the Constitution.” The resolution asks DSA to “take up a stance of opposition to the Constitution” by “openly indicting it as anti-democratic and oppressive.” Importantly, DSA electeds were encouraged to take “concrete actions to advance the struggle for a democratic republic” and a democratic constitution.

Earlier this year, Cleveland DSA passed the “Winning the Battle for Democracy” resolution at its annual convention. Soon after, San Diego DSA passed the “For a Democratic Constitution” resolution, explaining that the Constitution stands in the way of achieving any of the goals in the 2021 platform. Finally, the preamble for DSA’s 2024 Program reads, “Our goal is to put workers in charge of the government through 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.”

In the face of Trump’s return to office, DSA must meet the moment and synthesize our existing democratic demands into one coherent six-point plan in addition to our Workers Deserve More program. This People’s Petition would demand that all legislative powers be vested in a unicameral legislature elected by universal and equal suffrage of all adult residents and citizens of the U.S. through a proportional representation system. It would demand the abolition of the presidential veto and the Electoral College, the election of the president by popular vote, public financing for all elections, lowering the minimum voting age to sixteen, and forming a democratically-elected constituent assembly to draft a democratic constitution.