Progressivism

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Political philosophy, Reform movement

• Advocacy

  Active democratic government, Protection of human rights, Cultural development, Regulation of corporate monopolies

• Critiques

  Unregulated capitalism, Corporate monopolies, Political corruption, Large businesses

• Core Belief

  Human societies can improve through political action and social reform

• Key Figures (US)

  Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Croly, Charles Merriam, Upton Sinclair, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Beard, John Dewey

• Political Alignment

  Left-leaning

• Historical Goals (US)

  Strengthen national government, Make government responsive, Civil service reform, Food safety laws, Increased political rights for women and US workers, Improve working conditions, Better living conditions in slums, Environmental conservation

• Focus (vs. Liberalism)

  Advancing rights and protections for marginalized groups

• Historical Context (US)

  Industrial Revolution, Growth of modern capitalism

• Associated Ideologies (Modern)

  Social liberalism, Social democracy, Mixed economy, Cultural liberalism

• Driving Factors for Improvement

  Science, Technology, Economic development, Social organization

Timeline

• The Age of Enlightenment, from which progressivism arose, began with the belief that civility in Europe was improving due to the application of new empirical knowledge. (Source: Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1685-01-01

• The Progressive movement rose to prominence in the United States, running through the first decades of the 20th century. (Source: The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics (Heritage.org))

  1880-01-01

• The Progressive movement in the US began to question the power of large businesses and monopolies following journalistic exposés. (Source: The Progressive Movement and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1890-1920s (state.gov))

  1890-01-01

• The Progressive movement brought major changes to American politics and government during the first two decades of the 20th century. (Source: Britannica, Overview | Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929 (loc.gov))

  1900-01-01

• Progressivism is expected to wane in influence. (Source: 2025 Predictions: Tech, Business, Media, Politics! - All-In Podcast)

  2025-01-01

Progressivism

Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human societies everywhere. Progressivism arose during the Age of Enlightenment out of the belief that civility in Europe was improving due to the application of new empirical knowledge. In modern political discourse, progressivism is often associated with social liberalism, a left-leaning type of liberalism, and social democracy. Within economic progressivism, there is some ideological variety on the social liberal to social democrat continuum, as well as occasionally some variance on cultural issues; examples of this include some Christian democrat and conservative-leaning communitarian movements. While many ideologies can fall under the banner of progressivism, both the current and historical movement are characterized by a critique of unregulated capitalism, desiring a more active democratic government to take a role in safeguarding human rights, bringing about cultural development, and being a check-and-balance on corporate monopolies. There are differences in specific approaches between factions, including capitalist-leaning social liberals and social democrats versus some anti-capitalist democratic socialists.

Web Search Results

• The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American ...

  Progressivism was the reform movement that ran from the late 19th century through the first decades of the 20th century, during which leading intellectuals and social reformers in the United States sought to address the economic, political, and cultural questions that had arisen in the context of the rapid changes brought with the Industrial Revolution and the growth of modern capitalism in America. The Progressives believed that these changes marked the end of the old order and required the [...] There are, of course, many different representations of Progressivism: the literature of Upton Sinclair, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the history of Charles Beard, the educational system of John Dewey. In politics and political thought, the movement is associated with political leaders such as Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt and thinkers such as Herbert Croly and Charles Merriam. [...] The thesis of our book, _The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science_, is that Progressivism transformed American politics. What was that transformation? It was a total rejection in theory, and a partial rejection in practice, of the principles and policies on which America had been founded and on the basis of which the Civil War had been fought and won only a few years earlier. When I speak of Progressivism, I mean the movement that rose to prominence between about 1880 and

• Progressivism | Definition, History, & Facts - Britannica

  Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. progressivism, in the United States, political and social-reform movement that brought major changes to American politics and government during the first two decades of the 20th century. ## Historical context [...] The Progressive movement accommodated a diverse array of reformers—insurgent Republican officeholders, disaffected Democrats, journalists, academics, social workers, and other activists—who formed new organizations and institutions with the common objective of strengthening the national government and making it more responsive to popular economic, social, and political demands. Many progressives viewed themselves as principled reformers at a critical juncture of American history. [...] In their efforts to grapple with the challenges of industrialization, progressives championed three principal causes. First, they promoted a new governing philosophy that placed less emphasis on rights, especially when invoked in defense of big business, and stressed collective responsibilities and duties. Second, in keeping with these new principles, progressives called for the reconstruction of American politics, hitherto dominated by localized parties, so that a more direct link was formed

• PROGRESSIVISM Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

  However, distinctions between liberalism and progressivism are commonly made. When the two are distinguished, liberalism is held to focus on protecting the freedom of the individual from arbitrary authority and other infringements (a concept that can be traced back to early classical liberalism), while progressivism is regarded as focusing on advancing rights and protections for marginalized groups. [...] "But I think, in my view and my understanding, progressivism starts with this idea that government exists to help achieve a national purpose and enable our own individual self-expression and self-realization. … [L]iberalism thinks that freedom is freedom from foreign rule, freedom to participate in government. Progressivism thinks that freedom fundamentally is freedom of self-expression and self-autonomy." —Paul Miller [...] The words liberalism and progressivism are both associated with the political left (see left entry 2 sense 3a) and are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to the same basic leftist political philosophy that government should be used to improve the lives of the citizenry.

• The Progressive Movement and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1890-1920s

  The Progressive movement was a turn-of-the-century political movement interested in furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations. Although many Progressives saw U.S. power in a foreign arena as an opportunity to enact the Progressive domestic agenda overseas, and to improve foreign societies, others were concerned about the adverse effects of U.S. interventions and colonialism. [...] | The Progressive Movement and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1890-1920s The Progressive movement was a turn-of-the-century political movement interested in furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations. Although many Progressives saw U.S. power in a foreign arena as an opportunity to enact the Progressive domestic agenda overseas, and to improve foreign societies, others were concerned about [...] The Progressive movement began with a domestic agenda. Progressives were interested in establishing a more transparent and accountable government which would work to improve U.S. society. These reformers favored such policies as civil service reform, food safety laws, and increased political rights for women and U.S. workers. In the 1890s, the Progressive movement also began to question the power of large businesses and monopolies after a series of journalistic exposés that revealed

• Overview | Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929 | U.S. History ...

  The early 20th century was an era of business expansion and progressive reform in the United States. The progressives, as they called themselves, worked to make American society a better and safer place in which to live. They tried to make big business more responsible through regulations of various kinds. They worked to clean up corrupt city governments, to improve working conditions in factories, and to better living conditions for those who lived in slum areas, a large number of whom were [...] turned away from concern about foreign affairs, adopting an attitude of live and let live. [...] recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Many progressives were also concerned with the environment and conservation of resources.

• Instance Of

  Q4167410

Progressivism is the philosophy that believes it is possible through political action for human societies to improve over time. As a political movement, progressivism purports to advance the human condition through social reform based on advancements in science, technology, economic development, and social organization. Adherents to this way of thinking hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human societies everywhere. Progressivism arose during the Age of Enlightenment out of the belief that civility in Europe was improving due to the application of new empirical knowledge to the governance of society. In modern political discourse, progressivism gets often associated with social liberalism, a left-leaning type of liberalism, in contrast to the right-leaning neoliberalism, combining support for a mixed economy with cultural liberalism. In the 21st century, a movement that identifies as progressive is "a social or political movement that aims to represent the interests of ordinary people through political change and the support of government actions."