{"id":618,"date":"2026-08-12T05:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:38:17","slug":"why-have-less-than-one-percent-of-american-socialists-joined-dsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618","title":{"rendered":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

America\u2019s most prominent democratic socialist, the man who stamped that political tendency on the current American map\u2014Bernie Sanders\u2014is not now nor has he ever been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. As a young man, Sanders belonged to some fringe leftist organizations and apparently swore off such affiliations\u2014whether the groups were fringe or not\u2014as he grew older.<\/p>\n

Read more Crypto Democrats Are Ghosting the Industry<\/a><\/p>\n

More from Harold Meyerson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sanders is hardly alone in avowing that he\u2019s a democratic socialist, yet not a member of DSA. According to a late-July poll conducted by SSRS for CNN, 34 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners say they\u2019re democratic socialists, too. Depending on the unavoidably imprecise tallies of just how many Democrats and Democrat-leaners are actually out there, that would mean that roughly 20 million Americans describe themselves as democratic socialists. If your gut, like mine, thinks that number may be implausibly high, let\u2019s call it 15 million real American socialists. Even at that level, however, DSA\u2019s total membership of roughly 120,000 constitutes less than 1 percent of the Americans who\u2019ve chosen to call themselves democratic socialists.<\/p>\n

Any number of polls show that Americans\u2019 views of socialism and socialist candidates are considerably higher than anyone would have guessed 20 years ago. (In 2009, I wrote in my Washington Post<\/em> column that the only socialist I knew in Washington besides Sanders was \u201cthe guy I see in the mirror when I shave.\u201d) A July Morning Consult poll from the libertarian Cato Institute shows that 37 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of socialism, with an identical 37 percent registering an unfavorable opinion. The CNN poll shows that 73 percent of Democrats feel either \u201centhused\u201d or \u201cokay\u201d about democratic socialist candidates.<\/p>\n

So what is it that separates the 99 percent of avowed American socialists from the not quite 1 percent who belong to DSA? Both groups are disproportionately young, though the kind of activism that is common to DSA members puts demands on one\u2019s time that grow more difficult to meet if one has children. For that reason and more, DSA\u2019s culture is distinctly generational. Many of its strengths and weaknesses are those of youth groups: zeal, enough time for activism and strong social bonding, a relative dearth of real-world experience, and a cocooned sensibility that can lead one to think that beliefs within that cocoon traffic well outside that cocoon as well.<\/p>\n

All the polling indicates that some core democratic socialist tenets are trafficking fairly well outside the cocoon: more comprehensive social insurance, governmental assumption of necessities now left to the private sector (e.g., child care, senior care, health care, college), vastly more worker power, greatly increased taxation on the wealthy to fund such policies. My hunch (as I haven\u2019t seen any polling on this precise issue) is that when the 99 percent of those describing themselves as democratic socialist would be asked to define what they mean by that, their answers would focus on these economic issues\u2014broadly, expanding public control over areas of the economy where private control has failed to meet the public\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

Read more Organized Money: Mamdani Marts vs. Big Grocery<\/a><\/p>\n

That also pretty much defines Bernie Sanders\u2019s brand of democratic socialism, which, as he himself has repeatedly said, is in many ways just a social democratic updating and expansion of the New Deal\u2019s landmark innovations. What you won\u2019t hear from Sanders are the kinds of policies that abound within much of the DSA cocoon and don\u2019t abound outside it, such as abolishing the police. I\u2019m confident that most socialists and most nonsocialist liberals understand that American police forces usually come complete with racism and brutality, but that that doesn\u2019t obviate the need for law enforcement that must be able to resort to violence if necessary. (Norwegian police do not carry guns, for instance, but they have them in their cars.) Every socialist I know of who\u2019s won an election, from Zohran Mamdani on down, understands that, too. Some DSA candidates, by contrast, have been so incubated within the campus or college-town cocoon\u2014Daria Avila Chevalier and Francesca Hong come to mind\u2014that their Sanders-esque economics are weighed down by the cultural norms of the grad student left.<\/p>\n

Sanders\u2019s personal popularity demonstrates the benefits of not being seen as part of the campus left. In YouGov\u2019s 2026 poll on the popularity of political figures, he placed second, with a 57 percent approval rating, to Barack Obama. Moreover, at a time when socialism is presumably anathema to the white working class, Sanders actually did better among noncollege voters\u2014especially white voters without a four-year degree\u2014than Hillary Clinton did in the 2016 Democratic primaries. That advantage was strongest in many predominantly white, working-class states and was a major part of his victories in places such as Michigan and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

There are a host of reasons for those outcomes, very much including white working-class resentment at Clinton, who was both female and might have appeared more \u201cpolitically correct\u201d than old guy Bernie. By 2020, however, Bernie lost the Michigan and Wisconsin primaries, and the white working-class voters therein, to Joe Biden\u2014just as old and white as Bernie himself. Since 2016, as The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 Nate Cohn has noted, \u201cthe progressive left\u2014including Mr. Sanders himself\u2014simply hasn\u2019t been able to win such broad support, instead running up the score in young and heavily Democratic urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, of course, Sanders himself was able to personify and define the progressive left, and most particularly, the socialist left. It was a definition uncomplicated by the outer reaches of what later would be termed \u201cwoke.\u201d DSA, which had just 6,000 or so members when his campaign began, didn\u2019t yet exist as a political force; it was his campaign that effectively rebirthed the organization. Today, DSA\u2019s legions are essential to the electoral victories of socialist and progressive candidates in left-leaning terrains. The brand of socialism widely identified with DSA, however, can come complete with the kind of cocoon culture that may impede victories outside such terrains. Successful DSA elected officials like Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez understand that and generally focus on socialism\u2019s core economic issues. Their road map is certainly one that candidates like the Democrats\u2019 new Michigan senatorial nominee, Abdul El-Sayed\u2014who, by his own account, is neither a DSA member nor a socialist, but clearly agrees with Sanders about almost everything\u2014should follow.<\/p>\n

Read more The Senate\u2019s Mad Dash to Pass Something Before the Midterms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
\n
\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Socialism has not been this popular in America in at least a century, but how it\u2019s defined, and who defines it, matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[304],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-tagged-bernie-sanders-democrats-dsa-economic-policy-politics-polling-socialism-working-class"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Socialism has not been this popular in America in at least a century, but how it\u2019s defined, and who defines it, matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"headline\":\"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618\"},\"wordCount\":1097,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Tagged: Bernie Sanders,\u00a0Democrats,\u00a0DSA,\u00a0Economic Policy,\u00a0Politics,\u00a0polling,\u00a0socialism,\u00a0working class\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618\",\"name\":\"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1500,\"caption\":\"Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally for Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\\\/Ellen Schmidt)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=618#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Frontier Housing Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report","og_description":"Socialism has not been this popular in America in at least a century, but how it\u2019s defined, and who defines it, matters.","og_url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618","og_site_name":"Frontier Housing Report","article_published_time":"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"headline":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA?","datePublished":"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618"},"wordCount":1097,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg","keywords":["Tagged: Bernie Sanders,\u00a0Democrats,\u00a0DSA,\u00a0Economic Policy,\u00a0Politics,\u00a0polling,\u00a0socialism,\u00a0working class"],"articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618","name":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA? - Frontier Housing Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-12T05:38:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/72aa4fa24ee930eac7bbee917f6ee334.jpg","width":2000,"height":1500,"caption":"Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally for Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Ellen Schmidt)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=618#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Have Less Than One Percent of American Socialists Joined DSA?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/","name":"Frontier Housing Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}