Social Democrats, USA

Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) was the principal association of U.S. social democrats from 1972–2005.

SDUSA was founded in 1972 when the Socialist Party of America renamed itself Social Democrats, USA. The Socialist Party had been publicly associated with Norman Thomas, its candidate for President, with A. Philip Randolph, the civil-rights and labor-union leader, and with Michael Harrington, the author of The Other America. When the Socialist Party changed its name to Social Democrats, USA, the civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin became its public spokesman. According to Rustin, SDUSA aimed to transform the Democratic Party into a social-democratic party. Harrington left SDUSA to found the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in 1973.

SDUSA's organizational activities included sponsoring discussions and issuing position papers; it was known mainly because of its members' activities in other organizations. SDUSA included civil-rights activists and leaders of labor unions, such as Bayard Rustin, Norman Hill, and Tom Kahn of the AFL–CIO, and Sandra Feldman and Rachelle Horowitz of the American Federation of Teachers. SDUSA members helped to support free labor-unions; in particular, Tom Kahn organized the AFL–CIO's support of Poland's Solidarity. Penn Kemble and Carl Gershman cooperated with Republican and Democratic administrations on democracy promotion. Other members included the philosopher Sidney Hook. The group supports Democratic socialist anti-communism.

SDUSA ceased operations in 2005, following the death of Penn Kemble. In 2008–2009 two small organizations emerged, each proclaiming itself to be the successor to SDUSA.