Citizen Action is defunct. For more information about its successor, see USAction (Nonprofit)

Citizen Action was a national left-leaning consumer advocacy group created in late 1979 by former activists from the radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Citizen Action supported a number of far-left policy proposals, including single-payer (government-owned) healthcare.

At its peak, Citizen Action had numerous state-level affiliates, many of which are still in operation, most notably Citizen Action New York. It closed in October 1997 following a number of campaign contribution scandals and the loss of financing from prominent liberal groups. ¹

The group was originally headed by Heather Booth, a political activist who later led many prominent advocacy groups on the Left. Booth founded the group’s successor, USAction, in 1999.

1. John Judis. “Below the Beltway: Activist Trouble.” The American Prospect. Jan/Feb 1998. Accessed June 26, 2019. Original URL: https://prospect.org/article/below-beltway-activist-trouble. Archived here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/06/Below-the-Beltway.-Am-Prospect.-1998.-06.2019.pdf