Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism

The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism is a democratic socialist group in the United States which originated in 1991 as the Committees of Correspondence, a moderate, reformist wing of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Named after the Committees of Correspondence formed during the American Revolution, the group criticized the leadership of CPUSA president Gus Hall and argued that, in light of the dissolution of the Soviet Union since 1989, the party should reject Leninism and adopt a more moderate democratic socialist orientation.

The former CPUSA official Gil Green, as well as notable activists such as Pete Seeger and Angela Davis, led the reformist movement in December 1991 at the national convention. Failing to win over the majority of CPUSA members, the group left the party. It held conferences to establish a new organization, which attracted independent leftists and socialists from outside the CPUSA tradition, or some who had left the party previously over its policies.

In 2000 the group changed its name to the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. CCDS permits dual membership in both the Socialist Party USA and the Communist Party USA. Its publications include Dialogue and Initiative and Crosscurrents.

In 2013 the organization was engaged in dialogue regarding Left Unity with other Marxist organizations in the United States, the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization regarding cooperation and possible collaboration or affiliation.