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Zohran Mamdani and Democratic Socialism

His group opposes the police, NATO, Israel and the ‘barbaric order of capitalism.’

By William A. Galston, WSJ

Sept. 9, 2025

In August 2023, Zohran Mamdani, then an obscure member of the New York State Assembly, now the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, delivered a keynote speech at the Democratic Socialists of America’s national convention in Chicago. He emphasized the significance of being part of the DSA. “We are special because of our organization,” he said, referring to himself and other DSA lawmakers. The organization was special because of its “sincerity.” Unlike other political groups, he insisted, “we mean what we say.”

Mr. Mamdani left no doubt about the DSA’s core principles. “We have a socialist politic,” he said. “Socialism is our theory, and DSA is our practice.”

“Socialism” is an elastic term in the U.S. Republicans attacked President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal as socialist, and when Democrats use the term, they often mean social democracy along Scandinavian lines. DSA’s official platform is committed to socialism in the classic sense—public ownership of the means of production, updated for the information age.

“Our fight is to end capitalist exploitation,” the platform asserts. “In overcoming the old, barbaric order of capitalism, the working class will not only liberate itself from its own shackles, but all of humanity from the parasitic death-drive of capitalism.”

To end exploitation and achieve liberation, the DSA calls for the nationalization of railroads, utilities, critical manufacturing, technology companies, institutions of monetary policy, insurance, real estate and finance. As if this weren’t sweeping enough, the DSA calls for public ownership of hospitals and other healthcare providers. It also urges government control of food production with a call to “socialize the agricultural system.” Finally, it calls for “social ownership” of the media and internet providers.

The DSA doesn’t stop with control of the economy. To liberate society, it demands that the U.S. work toward collapsing the criminal justice system. Among other measures, this means defunding the police, freeing all prisoners and other incarcerated people from involuntary confinement, ending policing of black and brown neighborhoods, disarming all law enforcement officers, and repealing local ordinances that criminalize people involved in the sex and drug “trades.”

The DSA platform weighs in on a host of social and cultural issues. Its immigration plank calls for the demilitarization of the border, an end to all immigrant detention and deportation, the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and immediate, unconditional amnesty for all immigrants, regardless of legal status. Its housing policy features “universal rent control.” On healthcare, it says minors should be able to obtain “gender-affirming care” without parental consent and advocates such treatments, including hormone replacement therapy and surgery, for all prisoners who request it.

Finally, the DSA offers a comprehensive foreign and defense policy. It calls for dramatic cuts in U.S. military spending, immediate withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, ending U.S. military aid to all governments, and closing all U.S. military bases in foreign countries. It singles out Israel for special treatment: Not only should the U.S. end all aid to Israel, but it also must oppose the normalization of relations between Israel and any other government. Meanwhile, the U.S. should normalize relations with Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and other countries targeted for “resisting U.S. imperialism.” In unexpected agreement with the Trump administration, the DSA platform calls for the abolition of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Voice of America and the National Endowment for Democracy. The DSA’s rationale, however, is decidedly non-MAGA—the claim that these organizations “cynically disguise capitalist control as aid and journalism.”

As Mr. Mamdani has risen as the leading candidate for New York City mayor, his opponents have been equating his views with the DSA’s platform. In response, he has backed away from it, saying that his platform “is not the same as national D.S.A.” and that some of his views have changed, especially on criminal justice. Under continuing pressure from opponent Andrew Cuomo, he has said that “if you cannot find a policy on my website, then that is not a policy that I am running on.”

Repudiating unpopular positions is a time-tested campaign tactic, but it doesn’t put doubts to rest. What Mr. Mamdani is running on isn’t the totality of what he believes. If he’s elected mayor, as seems likely, he will become a leading voice in the Democratic Party and will shape public perceptions of the party’s identity. Democrats who endorse his candidacy are sending a message: There’s room in the party for members of an organization many of whose policies the electorate rejected in 2024, and whose commitment to socialism is shared by only a minority of the American people.