ISSUE #3

by Joe Mayall

As the most high-stakes vote at any convention, the election of the new National Political Committee (NPC) at the 2023 Convention was the most anticipated and debated decision put before the convention delegates. With each candidate presenting their vision for how the NPC should operate during the upcoming two-year term, NPC votes are often seen as a measuring stick for how the delegates, and therefore the membership that sent them to convention, are feeling about the direction of DSA. 

As the new 16-member body settles in to the inaugural month of its 24-month term, it’s worth examining the responsibilities, duties, and directives tasked to the NPC to properly understand how these members will shape the next two years of DSA.

What Does the NPC Do?

While the Convention is the highest decision-making body in DSA, it is only in session for four days every two years. Between conventions, the NPC acts as DSA’s “board of directors,” making executive decisions that impact the national organization. While the Convention sets DSA’s goals and priorities by voting on resolutions (as was just done in August), it is up to NPC members to determine how exactly these priorities should be carried out. For example, the 2023 Convention voted to keep the Green New Deal as a top political priority. How will this be enacted? That’s up to the NPC. They can allocate resources to campaigns and elections around the country, organize with environmental groups with similar goals, and do pretty much anything else that falls within the stated goal of trying to make the Green New Deal a reality. The NPC also has secondary duties as established in the DSA constitution, such as representing DSA in public spaces, assisting YDSA with its growth and actions, determining yearly dues, and overseeing the chartering of new chapters and commissions. 

All of these actions are determined at NPC’s quarterly meetings, and the bi-weekly meetings of the Steering Committee, a five-person committee elected by the NPC to serve as a consistent body in-between sessions.

NPC Requirements

Earlier the NPC was described as DSA’s “board of directors.” This isn’t just a euphemism, but rather a codified legal responsibility. As the heads of a registered non-profit organization, every member of the NPC has fiduciary duties they must abide by. In addition to enhancing DSA’s public standing, advocating on behalf of the organization, and representing the organization to the best of their ability, NPC members are legally required to fulfill three specific duties. Duty of Care requires them to exercise a “reasonable” level of care, attention, and concern when making decisions. Duty of Loyalty requires them to remain loyal to DSA and not take action that could potentially harm the organization. And, perhaps most importantly, they are bound by a Duty of Obedience that requires them to help the organization reach its stated goals to the best of their ability. To put this into context, the Duty of Obedience requires NPC members to dedicate DSA’s resources to the goals set in the resolutions determined by the Convention. 

If this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. In addition to spearheading DSA’s national campaigns, NPC members must maintain relationships with DSA’s staff, National Director, and grass roots membership through the chapters. Unlike the aforementioned duties, these aren’t “requirements,” but rather functions necessary to ensure they are best able to continue doing their most important job: leaving DSA better than when they found it.

This will be the main thought on the mind of every new and veteran NPC member as they get to work at the start of their term.

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Joe Mayall is a freelance writer and a member of the Denver Democratic Socialists of America. His work has appeared in Jacobin, The Progressive, Balls and Strikes, and The Pika Press. More of his work can be found at joewrote.substack.com.