The Platform That Would Transform U.S. Politics

The Democratic Socialists of America put abolition of the Senate, a rewrite of the presidency and Supreme Court, and a prison overhaul squarely on the table.

Story Snapshot

DSA’s program says to abolish the Senate and shift to multi-party democracy.
A 2021 draft platform sought constitutional amendments to scrap the Senate.
Leaders publicly defended the goal as making government more representative.
Media and allies describe a plan to replace the presidency and Supreme Court.

What DSA Put In Writing About America’s Core Institutions

The Democratic Socialists of America published a program that calls to abolish the Senate, expand the House of Representatives, and move to ranked choice and proportional voting. It also urges a multi-party system instead of the current two parties. A 2021 draft platform went further. It proposed constitutional amendments to abolish the Senate and the Electoral College, and to reverse key campaign finance rulings. These texts show a long-running, explicit push to refit national structures, not a stray slogan.

Coverage of the group’s latest platform describes a broader redesign. Reports say the plan would replace the presidency and the Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary picked by, and answerable to, Congress. Supporters frame this as breaking “minority rule” and moving to a parliament-style setup. Critics read it as gutting checks and balances. Both readings agree on the scale: this is a bid to reorganize the system from the top down, not a tweak around the edges.

How DSA Leaders Framed The Abolition Idea

DSA co-chairs have said the Senate is undemocratic because it gives equal power to small and large states. They argue that elections should mirror population more closely and that the House of Representatives fits that test, while the Senate does not. This line aims at simple math: one person, one vote, everywhere. The counterpoint is also simple: the Senate exists to protect state equality and slow rash change. That friction is a feature to many conservatives, not a bug.

Reporters and commentators pressed DSA leaders on whether “abolish” is literal or aspirational. A co-chair answered that ending the Senate is part of the platform and “not extreme” in their view. That answer suggests intent, not metaphor. Still, intent is not enactment. The United States Constitution sets a very high bar to change this chamber. Any serious attempt would need overwhelming national buy-in and state-level consent, which remains unlikely in today’s polarized map.

What It Would Take To Do Any Of This

Changing the Senate, replacing the presidency, or refashioning the Supreme Court would require amending the Constitution or calling a new convention. The 2021 DSA draft spelled out the amendment route for some goals. That process needs two-thirds of both houses of Congress and approval from three-fourths of states, or a convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures. This is why bold platform lines make headlines but rarely hit statute. The mechanics are slow, public, and steep.

The political path is even harder. Many Democrats distance themselves from the “abolish the Senate” demand, which signals limited appetite within the left-of-center coalition. Republicans see these aims as hostile to the Founders’ design. Conservative common sense says guardrails matter because human nature does not change. Fast power with no checks invites abuse. A bicameral Congress, a separate executive, and an independent judiciary split power on purpose. That separation restrains fads and protects small communities.