The Chicago Socialist Party (CSP) is the local chapter of the

Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America,"The article of this organization shall be the Socialist Party of the United States of America, hereinafter called 'the Party'". Art. I of th"Constitution o ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and traces its origins back to the Cook County Socialist Party and the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

. It is a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

organization that supports numerous

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

and

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

causes in an effort to help build a broad-based, multi-tendency socialist movement. During the early years of the

, the Chicago Socialist Party was one of the strongest locals in the country.

Early years

According to records at the University of Illinois at Chicago Library: "The Cook County Socialist Party was founded in 1896 as a response to the Pullman strike in Chicago. It held its first convention two years later. In 1901 it joined with other socialists parties in the state to form the Socialist Party of Illinois. The state party affiliated with the national party and its leader Eugene Debs and grew in membership throughout the first two decades of the twentieth century but declined after World War One." After the Socialist Party unified in 1901, prominent socialist activists contended for control of Chicago Socialist Party; these included

Algie Martin Simons Algie Martin Simons (1870–1950) was an American socialist journalist, newspaper editor, and political activist, best remembered as the editor of ''International Socialist Review (1900), The International Socialist Review'' for nearly a decade. ...

Barney Berlyn Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

, Thomas J. Morgan and

Seymour Stedman Seymour "Stedy" Stedman (July 4, 1871 – July 9, 1948) was an American from Chicago who rose from shepherd and janitor to become a prominent civil liberties lawyer and a leader of the Socialist Party of America. He is best remembered as the 192 ...

1973 reorganization

In 2005 the CSP's charter was suspended due to several officers not paying their dues and who later left the Party. The charter was later reinstated once a functioning Local Executive Committee of members in good standing was elected.Socialist Party National Committee Minutes
March 2008 (accessed 14 May 2008). The CSP's long-term objective is to establish a radical democracy, a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society in which people cooperate at work, at home, and in the community and in which working people have control over their own lives. The CSP works cooperatively with numerous progressive and radical organizations and independent activists. While the Socialist Party regularly runs candidates for elected office, restrictive ballot access laws in Illinois result in few Socialist candidates running in that state, mainly as write-in candidates. The CSP functions primarily as activist organization, working in support of the labor movement, anti-war campaigns, prison outreach, and policy advocacy. Members have also been involved in educational efforts such as establishing radical resource centers and organizing forums, speakers, classes, film screenings, and book discussions on progressive and radical issues. In 2012 CSP members filed petitions to put the Socialist Party's presidential candidate Stewart Alexander and vice presidential candidate Alex Mendoza on the Illinois ballot under the state's "challenge rule" which meant that if no one challenged the petitions the party would be on the November ballot. The Socialist Party's petitions, along with three other minor/independent parties were challenged by two members of the

Illinois Green Party The Illinois Green Party is a statewide political party in Illinois. The party is state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States. Its stated mission and purpose are to advance the ''Ten Key Values of the Green Party'' in Illinois through ...

Rob Sherman Robert I. Sherman (April 2, 1953 – December 9, 2016) was an American political activist, perennial candidate, and businessman. He was known for his role as an Illinois Green Party candidate and for his atheist advocacy. He died in a plane crash ...

, Chair of the Cook County Green Party and Andy Finko, a lawyer who represents the Illinois Green Party. Despite pleas from Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and other prominent Greens to drop the challenges, Sherman and Finko did not do so and the result was that the Socialist Party and three other parties were kicked off the ballot. In 2014 the Chicago Socialist Party joined with other socialists and activists to form the Chicago Socialist Campaign. The goal was to emulate the campaign of

Kshama Sawant Kshama Sawant (; born October 17, 1973) is an Indian-American politician and economist who has served on the Seattle City Council since 2014. She is a member of Socialist Alternative (United States), Socialist Alternative, the first and only mem ...

of Seattle and run a socialist candidate for Alderman in 2015. In May 2014 the Campaign chose Jorge Mújica, a long-time immigrant rights and labor organizer, to run for alderman in Chicago's 25th ward. In the March 2015 election Mujica, running as an open socialist, received 907 votes, 12.15% of the total vote.

References

External links

Chicago Socialist Party

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Political parties in Illinois Chicago City Council State and local socialist parties in the United States Socialism in Illinois