United Socialist Party in the US?

So from what I can tell, there are at least 9 current socialist parties in the US.

What PoD would be necessary to unify them all into one party and would this party be considered equal to at least the Constitution Party in terms of support?

Also a potentially unrelated question,why are there so many socialist parties in the US? Many of them seem to stand for the same things yet declare themselves different.
 
Obviously, preventing the Bolshevik Revolution--which led to the split between Communism (which in turn gave rise ultimately to Stalinist, Maoist, and fifty-seven varieties of Trotskyist parities) and Social Democracy--would help somewhat. But it wouldn't be enough--even before 1917 there was the split between the Socialist Party nd the Socialist Labor Party...
 
Also a potentially unrelated question,why are there so many socialist parties in the US? Many of them seem to stand for the same things yet declare themselves different.

Because they're each the One True Socialist Party, and the rest are bloody splitters, of course. Splitters!

hqdefault.jpg
 
Then maybe I should rephrase my question differently.

Is there anyone who could potentially unify the various Socialist parties into one? Such as Debs or closer to the modern era,someone like Barr or La Riva?
 
Do you mean like an American SYRIZA on a much smaller scale? Because I think the difference between socialist parties in Europe and in the US is that even the sects in Europe are usually actual political organizations, the legacy of the New Left means many socialist parties in the US are just cults.
 
Leaving aside the plausibility of getting socialists to unify anywhere, I think that there are three things you need to do to make it work.

Firstly, give American socialism a boost in general. It's easy to become a purist talking shop when you have no chance of affecting things, but if you actually have a chance of influencing politics, it encourages a more cooperative approach. Finding a way to weaken the Red Scare and keep New York from expelling its socialist councillors would be a good start.

Secondly, and closely related, is boosting the influence of radicals in the labour movement as a whole. This would both boost the profile of socialist politics, and offer a potential socialist party a good support base to operate with. Getting Max S. Hayes elected as head of the AFL would be a good start, but that is much easier said than done.

Thirdly, have the second conference of the CPPA vote in favour of creating an independent pro-labour party that can serve absorb the various socialist and radical liberal parties. They then make their big début in 1924, when the Democrats and Republicans both nominated conservatives, allowing them to break onto the political scene, coming in third but with a respectable showing. Come 1929 and the stock market crash, they're in a position to cement themselves as a feature of American politics, they will most likely still be a bit player for the foreseeable future.


An alternative idea I've been having is to have the Democrats split after WW2, with the left-wing forming the nucleus of a centre-left social democratic party, around which the various socialist parties rally. Basically Henry Wallace remains FDR's VP in 1944, and ascends to the Presidency in 1945. In 1948 he wins the Democratic nomination, but refuses to compromise with the right of the party and campaigns on a hard-left platform with a strong civil rights focus. This greatly alienates the right, and even a few moderates in the party, who end up running their own candidates in the South. The Republicans are able to win the election, which reflects poorly on Wallace. Come 1952 the right-wing of the Democrats gain control of the nomination, and refuse to compromise with the left. As a result the left split off and rallies the various non-Communist left-wing parties to their cause. The Democrats shift to the right, whilst the Republicans are able to play the two off each other and hold the centre-ground, becoming the dominant party.
 
So from what I can tell, there are at least 9 current socialist parties in the US.

What PoD would be necessary to unify them all into one party and would this party be considered equal to at least the Constitution Party in terms of support?

Also a potentially unrelated question,why are there so many socialist parties in the US? Many of them seem to stand for the same things yet declare themselves different.

Because the term 'socialist' has such a broad definition, those who lay claim to it can have extremely variable viewpoints, that range from Bernie Sanders to Josef Stalin, and everything in between. To get all those people in one party would be difficult, and possibly self defeating for those who are relatively right wing, social democrats would have a better chance advancing there cause by having there own party or working within the Democrats free from association with far left revolutionaries.

That said, you have seen a trend toward radical left coalitions in recent decades in Europe, like Syriza, Podemos, even Left Unity and TUSC in the UK, though they are somewhat irrelevant. It is perhaps surprising that there is no US equivalent (that I know of). Perhaps it is because they have less hope of penetrating the two party system, and most of them have had little to no electoral success, so there is no point in trying.
 
Top