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Socialist Equality Party
Chairman	David North
Secretary	Joseph Kishore
Founded	September 1964; 60 years ago (September 1964)
Newspaper	World Socialist Web Site
Youth wing	International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE)
Ideology	Revolutionary socialism Communism Trotskyism
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)
Members in elected offices	0
Website
socialequality.com
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a Trotskyist political party in the United States. SEP first formed in 1964 as the American Committee for the Fourth International, created by expelled members of the Socialist Workers Party. SEP and its previous forms were associated with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), a Trotskyist political international.

SEP describes itself as a revolutionary socialist party, because the SEP believes capitalism is "beyond reform" and only "a revolutionary movement that has as its aim the establishment of workers' power" can win socialism.

Notable members include David North, Jerry White, and Joseph Kishore.

History

Background

In the 1950s, most Trotskyists in the United States were members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which was part of the Fourth International's (FI) tendency International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

In 1958, SWP adopted a policy of "regroupment": Pursuit of former members of Stalinist communist parties, who had been disillusioned by the Secret Speech. This SWP strategy also meant greater support for Fidel Castro, whom SWP leadership called an "unconscious" Trotskyist.

In 1961, Tim Wohlforth, James Robertson, and other SWP members who opposed regroupment created a tendency within the SWP, the Revolutionary Tendency (RT). RT saw the SWP as shifting toward the FI's other tendency, the International Secretariat of the Fourth International (ISFI), led by Michel Pablo. RT opposed "Pabloite" politics and Pablo's "entryism sui generis" plan, in which Trotskyists would maintain separate parties but personally enter into communist and social democratic parties. RT developed links with the Socialist Labour League in Britain, led by Gerry Healy. Lyndon LaRouche was briefly an RT member.

In 1962, the RT split: Robertson's majority kept the name. Wohlforth's minority renamed itself the Reorganized Minority Tendency (RMT).

In 1963, in preparation for merging the ICFI with the ISFI, Wohlforth was removed from the SWP's Political Committee.

Formation

In November 1963, the SWP expelled Robertson and the RT, who created the Spartacist League. Robertson's appeal was denied in April 1964.

In September 1964, the SWP expelled Wohlforth and the RMT, who created the American Committee for the Fourth International (ACFI) and launched the biweekly Bulletin of International Socialism. ACFI maintained connections with Gerry Healy and the (non-merged portions of the) ICFI, which they considered the legitimate Trotskyist movement. ACFI became the American section of the ICFI.

Wohlforth argued that the split was due to their demand for discussion of the decision by the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party to participate in the national government. ACFI characterized this decision as "opportunism" that originated in the "centrist" position of the LSSP during the split between the ISFI and ICFI of 1953.

Subsequent history

In 1966, ACFI renamed itself to the Workers League (WL).

In 1973, WL entered serious organizational crisis. About 150 members and most of its founding leaders left. At Healey's insistence, Wohlforth was forced out of leadership.

In 1985, ICFI split in two. The Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) in Britain argued that ICFI should support nationalist leaders like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gadhafi. In 1985, the WRP expelled Gerry Healy, and WL sided with the ICFI majority over Healy's minority.

In 1995, parties affiliated with ICFI each renamed themselves as Socialist Equality Party. In 1998, the ICFI launched the World Socialist Web Site. ICFI runs the publishing house Mehring Books, formerly named Labor Publications.

In 2006, the Socialist Equality Party relaunched its student movement (the Students for Social Equality) as the International Students for Social Equality (ISSE). In 2012, the SEP renamed the ISSE as the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE).

Ideology

SEP is a Trotskyist party.

SEP supports a "revolutionary struggle against capitalism" and rejects socialist reformism, stating that "our aim is not the reform of capitalism, but its overthrow". In its list of transitional demands, the SEP includes: Universal employment, universal healthcare, ending foreclosures and evictions, workplace democracy, high inheritance taxes, nationalization of large corporations, and replacement of the volunteer-based US military with "popular militias controlled by the working class and with elected officers".

Election results

The SEP has fielded electoral candidates in the United States for local, state, and federal offices. SEP candidates usually run as official SEP candidates on their own ballot line.

No SEP candidate has yet won an election.

Presidential elections

Parts of this article (those related to 2024 results) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2024)

Congressional elections

Statewide elections

State legislature elections

Local elections

National congresses

See also

• American Left
• World Socialist Web Site
• International Committee of the Fourth International
• Left Opposition
• James P. Cannon
• History of the socialist movement in the United States

References

1. ^ "Statement of Principles". Socialist Equality Party.
2. "About". Socialist Equality Party.
3. ^ Alexander, Robert J. (1991). International Trotskyism, 1929–1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement. Duke University Press. pp. 761–951. ISBN 978-0-8223-0975-8.
4. "Castroism and the SWP's Return to Pablo". The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (United States). Socialist Equality Party.
5. Tim Wohlforth, The Prophet's Children: Travels on the American Left. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1994; pp. 123–124.
6. Jones, Keith (August 30, 2023). "The "Great Betrayal" in Ceylon, the formation of the American Committee for the Fourth International, and the founding of the Workers League".
7. "World Socialist Web Site". Archived from the original on 12 December 1998.
8. "About Mehring Books,", October 2016.
9. "Resolutions of the SEP Congress: Build the International Youth and Students for Social Equality". September 3, 2012.
10. "Socialist Equality Party selects Joseph Kishore and Jerry White as its presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2024 US election". World Socialist Web Site. 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
11. "Federal Elections 2020" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. October 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2022.
12. "Federal Elections 2016" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. December 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
13. "Federal Elections 2012" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
14. "Federal Elections 2008" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
15. Berg-Andersson, Richard; Roza, Tony (December 1, 2009). "The Green Papers: 2008 General Election". Archived from the original on September 18, 2008.
16. "Federal Elections 2004" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
17. "Federal Elections 96" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
18. "Federal Elections 92" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
19. "Federal Elections 88" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
20. "Federal Elections 84" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. July 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019.
21. "Socialist Equality candidate:"Society can't afford the rich"" (Flash video). YouTube.
22. "Socialist Equality Party announces candidates in New York, Michigan and California". 21 March 2006.
23. "2018 California Primary Election Results". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
24. "Michigan's 12th Congressional District election, 2018 – Ballotpedia". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
25. "Election Result Data". Retrieved 2018-07-23.
26. "Vote for SEP candidate David Moore in California recall". World Socialist Web Site. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
27. "John Christopher Burton Candidate Statement".
28. ^ "Socialist Equality Party to contest state elections in Illinois, Maine, Oregon and Washington". 15 May 2006.
29. Collier, D'Artagnan. "Support D'Artagnan Collier for Detroit Mayor". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 22 May 2013.

External links

• Socialist Equality Party.
• World Socialist Web Site.
• The Bulletin. Marxists Internet Archive.
• "The Workers League and the founding of the Socialist Equality Party". Archived from the original on 15 August 2000.

• 1966 establishments in the United States
• Far-left politics in the United States
• International Committee of the Fourth International
• Non-interventionist parties
• Political parties established in 1966
• Communist parties in the United States
• Trotskyist parties in the United States
• Socialist parties in the United States
• Political parties in the United States