As the new socialist left deepens its engagement with mass politics, it is beginning to grapple with many of the same problems and dilemmas our predecessors encountered many years ago. Chief among them is the question of how to hold socialist officeholders accountable to the principles and programs of the organizations they are part of — and what to do when these imperatives inevitably clash with the exigencies of public office.

In a notable essay in the 2018 Socialist Register, political scientist Adam Hilton proposed an ambitious organizational project for the US left: “A geographically rooted network of mass-member civic organizations, oriented toward building a base within working-class communities and labor unions that can also act as an effective independent pressure group on the Democratic Party.” Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has taken important but still limited steps in this direction, and the relationship between DSA-backed politicians elected on the Democratic ballot line and the organization can be complicated.

Andre Vasquez, one of the six DSA members on Chicago’s city council, voted to approve the mayor’s 2021 municipal budget. The other five members, in line with the chapter’s position, voted against it. The chapter therefore issued a statement censuring Vasquez and called on him to resign his DSA membership.