Written by News Editor Ellie Blakely and Features Editor Naomi Kotani
Less than three years ago, 23-year-old Syrak Micael had barely heard of democratic socialism. Now, he is running for Berkeley City Council as a democratic socialist.
“The first time I learned about democratic socialism was through [pro-Palestine] encampments that we had at the University of California, Berkeley [which I was part of in 2024],” Micael said. “The [Cal Youth Democratic Socialists of America] were a big part of the mobilization and the support for that movement. That was the first time I got to interact with people [from the organization] and learn more about it.”
After participating in encampments at UC Berkeley protesting UC investment in companies involved with Israel, Micael became involved in local government, serving on the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission before ultimately deciding to run for City Council.
“The people that I met [through local Democratic Socialists of America chapters] and the conversations that I had were the ones who really gave me the spark,” Micael said. “But after learning a lot more about [New York Mayor Zohran] Mamdani’s campaign and … the way they were able to grow this movement … it [made me realize], ‘Oh, [there’s an] electoral side of it too. We can get wins through people mobilization, [but] we can also get wins with electoralism.”
Micael is part of a larger faction of Democratic-aligned voters who have rallied behind democratic socialism to alleviate Americans’ concerns about affordability and accountability in government. A CNN poll from July found that roughly one-third of Democrats consider themselves to be democratic socialists. And DSA membership has essentially doubled in the past five years, according to data available on the organization’s website. One of the DSA’s strategies is canvassing, which, unlike establishment campaigns that tend to rely on donors and marketing, allows volunteers to directly reach out to constituents.
Democratic socialism itself is not a new ideology, having begun to take its current form in the mid-20th century as a democratic alternative to totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. The term’s popularity has increased recently, as more democratic socialist candidates have been elected to positions in national and local governments.
Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, is widely recognized as having brought the label into mainstream politics. His success was followed by democratic socialist wins in other high profile elections, such as New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and more recently, Mamdani.
While there is not a universally agreed-upon definition of democratic socialism, the movement is united by a vision for a strong political democracy and an economy with more public ownership rather than one dominated by private corporations. Key policies supported by the DSA range from relatively mainstream policy proposals like universal healthcare and more housing to more fringe ideas, like abolishing the police, prisons and the U.S. Senate.
Democratic socialists generally believe that government intervention is the best way to solve the country’s affordability issues, as opposed to capitalism, although individual candidates’ policies vary.
“The affordability crisis is not going to be solved through the free market,” said Caela Erickson Imbrogno, Silicon Valley DSA Co-Chair. “I don’t think that’s something that’s going to be solved by just letting things take their course. We need to step in … and be advocating for solutions to those things.”
Affordability is currently one of the biggest issues for Americans, and it has been a main factor in increasing support for democratic socialism.
“Working people are experiencing economic precarity in a way that previous generations might not have,” said Nate Adams, a DSA candidate for Oakland City Council. “No matter how much you try to propagandize [capitalism], once you push people far enough, they’re going to start seeing that the system isn’t working for them.”
Adams had a conservative upbringing, which he said taught him to believe that one could find economic success in hard work without outside or government assistance. His own experiences clashed with this attitude, which is one of the reasons he later on decided to identify with democratic socialism.
“This ‘pulling yourself up by your bootstraps’ and moralizing economic situations [mindset] starts to not make a whole lot of sense when it’s happening to you,” Adams said. “When it was happening to my mom while she was raising me, we were saying that narrative while at the same time hopping apartment to apartment. That bootstrap logic wasn’t working for [us].”
Many see establishment Democrats and Republicans as passively addressing affordability, and some of these voters view democratic socialism as offering more assertive and proactive policies.
“Centrist [Democrats] and Republicans are just like, ‘We’ll bring [inflation] down,’ but they don’t offer any tangible solutions,” said Middle College senior Ryan Hecht. “Democratic socialists have a plan, a system, instead of vague words that don’t get us anywhere.”
While many agree that politicians need to tackle affordability, some believe that democratic socialism takes the wrong approach to solving the issue. There is concern that programs the DSA supports, such as universal healthcare and childcare, could lead to increased taxes and that this might have a negative effect on the economy.
“Higher taxes equals less money people get from their paychecks, and people feel like they aren’t getting paid for what they’re working for,” said junior Veer Bhalla. “Then they’ll have less motivation to do [work].”
In addition, some are apprehensive about democratic socialists’ approach to affordability because they worry that lawmakers will not be responsible in handling the funding allocated to social safety nets, which is the primary solution the DSA puts forward.
“We’ve seen [in] recent times that governments have money that they’ll put in their pockets or they’ll put in other places that [money doesn’t] need to be,” Bhalla said. “It depends on how well the government is managing the money.”
Some people’s support for democratic socialism stems not from candidates’ economic policies but their foreign policy stances. Some cited democratic socialists’ opposition to U.S. support for Israel, in contrast from more moderate Democrats, as a reason for her support of the ideology.
“A lot of people, including me, find it unacceptable that our government is so pro-Israel,” said junior Sara Chiguchi. “We are enabling the genocide in Palestine, and many Democrats are supportive of it. And one of the only factions inside the Democratic Party [who are pro-Palestine] is [the] Democratic Socialists.”
The DSA has made its opposition to Israel a main policy, and requires its members and candidates to agree with its anti-Zionist perspective. An internal policy prohibits members from opposing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, being affiliated with the Israeli government or Zionist groups or having ever provided aid to Israel, including in the form of donation to non-governmental organizations. The DSA opposes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and defines Zionism as “racist” and “imperialist,” a stance that has turned off some voters.
“[The policy] definitely hinders growth to a point,” Hecht said. “But [for] the protection of [the organization’s] ideals, it is beneficial for them to not have people who are not acting in [their] best interest … [If they] don’t follow your policies and your values, they might misrepresent you.”
Despite some polarizing policies, Americans’ recent support for democratic socialist candidates seems to stem from dissatisfaction with the establishment and a concern that politicians don’t have their best interests at heart.
“Whether they get a bunch of corporate donations [or] a bunch of billionaire donors, … those [leaders] are not accountable to the people, and they weren’t built up by the people,” Micael said. “[But] what I see with a lot of these DSA campaigns … [is] it’s always about people first.”
Americans’ frustration with their government has led parties to become more polarized, leading to more radical views on both sides of the aisle. According to a report by Pew Research Center, Democrats and Republicans were already moving away from the political center more than a decade ago. Now, Republicans have moved farther to the right as a result of President Donald Trump’s leadership, and Democrats are beginning to embrace democratic socialism, which is farther to the left than the rest of the party.
“People don’t like these [politicians who’ve] been in power for 50 years and have gotten nothing done,” Hecht said. “They don’t like the establishment because it’s currently doing nothing to fight against the radical right. So they’re looking further and further left.”
This year, democratic socialist candidates across the country, like Angie Nixon in Florida and Melat Kiros in Colorado, have won Democratic nominations for the general election in November. However, a handful of democratic socialist candidates also faced losses in primaries.
The wins have left some in the Democratic party worried about losing the general election as a result of nominating a candidate who is too far to the left to appeal to undecided or centrist voters.
However, some democratic socialists have rejected these concerns, arguing that they do not need to appeal to centrist voters.
“There’s this impetus put by the Democratic Party on bipartisanship and I don’t feel like we live in a world where that’s possible with the policies that the Republican Party are putting into place,” Erickson Imbrogno said. “As the Republicans have gone further to the right, the Democrats have [moved] to the right as well … for the sake of trying to capture this imaginary median voter.”
Overall, democratic socialists’ efforts seem to have prevailed. Democratic socialism’s popularity continues to increase, and as midterm elections get closer, their appeal to American voters will be put to the test. Whether democratic socialism’s rise is a political trend soon to be upstaged or symbolic of a larger political shift in the U.S. remains yet to be seen.
