Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
There has been some spirited discussion on Ricochet about the relationship between the early Progressive movement and contemporary politics. For those who have found that discussion interesting, I recommend reading this Heritage Foundation New Common Sense that maintains there is a fundamental continuity between the Progressivism of Teddy Roosevelt and the policies of Barack Obama. Obama, and his immediate predecessor, both explicitly claim to be connected to the earlier Progressivism; it is useful for us to study this relationship for immediate practical reasons as well as the unalloyed pleasure of learning.
TR's New Nationalism speech and Thomas G. West's overview of Progressivism are linked in the Heritage article. I highly recommend both to anyone interested in understanding the Progressive movement. West's essay is the best short piece known to me on the basic character of Progressivism. TR's speech The Right of the People to Rule and the Progressive Party Platform of 1912 are very useful for anyone wishing to understand the domestic policies advocated by early Progressives.
Anyone interested in a representative sample of Progressive thought situated within the larger American political tradition will profit from The US Constitution: A Reader, edited by the Hillsdale College Politics Faculty. The Reader also has selections from later Progressives such as FDR and LBJ, as well as a large number of documents elucidating the constitutionalism of the founding and the battle of ideas that led to the Civil War. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am one of the editors.)
American Progressivism: A Reader by R.J. Pestritto and William Atto offers a comprehensive collection of readings from leading early Progressives with a helpful introductory essay and useful prefatory notes to the individual selections. Pestritto also has a fine one-volume collection of Woodrow Wilson's political writings as well as the definitive treatment of Wilson's political thought in Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism. Wilson's "What Is Progress?", "Leaders of Men," and "The Study of Administration" provide the reader with a summary view of his thought. (All of these pieces may be found in American Progressivism).
Will Morrisey offers an immensely erudite and comprehensive examination of how Wilson, TR, and Taft transformed the American understanding of the meaning of self-government in The Dilemma of Progressivism.
Tiffany Miller's discussions of how John Dewey refounded American philosophy and Progressive racism at home and abroad provide essential insights into the character of Progressive theory and practice.
Study of the early Progressives shows the reader that the policies advocated today by what Angelo Codevilla aptly describes as the ruling class most often fall within the Progressive horizon. The distinctions between ruling class Republicans and ruling class Democrats are largely based on the differences between the various strands of early Progressive thought. Our political elite is united in rejecting the natural rights principles of the founding and the constitutionalism that flows from those principles.
The differences between today's liberalism and the earlier Progressivism are limited but important. Contemporary liberalism is an apparently incoherent blend of the earlier moralistic and assertive Progressivism coupled with the liberation from moral constraint and the embrace of death that came to prominence in our universities and public policy in the 1960's. I will say some more about what I take to be the key features of contemporary liberalism in a future post.
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Comments:
Nov '10
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
"embrace of death"
Good way of putting it. I suppose it surely comprehends not just the specific, Ponnuru "party of death" sense re. abortion, but moreover the general nihilism come out of the woodwork as limned, for example, so brilliantly in Mansfield's "Womanly Nihilism" chapter of Manliness. I'll punt (in anticipation of your future post) and say that the nature of contemporary liberalism is best described as a rejection of common sense, as we see today in the simultaneous embrace of SSM and the venomous denunciation of opponents of SSM as lunatic simpletons.
"The heresy of heresies was common sense," as Orwell wrote. I think if brought back to life he would be horrified by much of what passes for thought amongst his cohorts on the Left.
Welcome back John Grant -- you've been gone too long...
Edited on June 3, 2012 at 12:39amJan '12
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Thank you, these will be worth the study.
Nov '10
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
And needless to say, by common sense I have in mind "those simple experiences regarding right and wrong which are at the bottom of the philosophic contention that there is a natural right."
Apr '11
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Thanks John. I will try and dig in as well. I am definitely interested in this topic and I'll bet a lot of others on Ricochet.com are as well. To get us started in the right direction, what two or three things was society doing at that time that was perceived as so wrong that launched the Progressive movement with such vigor? Thanks again.
Oct '10
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Walter Russel Mead has an unbelievably awesome blog on this; unlike other writers, he often reports progressive thought from the standpoint of practical politicians (knowing how philosophers approached progressivism is not helpful when trying to understand why actual policymakers bought this crap, how political equilibriums were established and how to break them, etc).
Jun '12
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
He is a must read everyday, at least for me.
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Hi Peter,
The main evil the early Progressives claimed to be addressing was the (allegedly) new power of large corporations. They claimed that the old constitutionalism was inadequate to deal with contemporary exigencies; a powerful administrative state was needed to protect the regular man from what Wilson called the "invisible empire" of powerful business.
Of course their policies led to the empowerment of special interests!
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
I agree on the worth of reading Mead, but I believe it is necessary to study the philosophic origins of Progressivism too.
Progressive policymakers were deeply influenced by German Idealists such as Hegel for instance. The Progressive claim that administrative experts should rule is unintelligible without a study of Hegel.
Today's liberals do not usually study their philosophic predecessors (unlike the early Progressives), but they do adhere to a decayed Hegelianism as the ground of their policies.
One might also profitably consider the immense influence of John Dewey on American education as another example.
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your kind words--it is good to be back!
Robert Lux: "embrace of death"
Good way of putting it. I suppose it surely comprehends not just the specific, Ponnuru "party of death" sense re. abortion, but moreover the general nihilism come out of the woodwork as limned, for example, so brilliantly in Mansfield's "Womanly Nihilism" chapter ofManliness. I'll punt (in anticipation of your future post) and say that the nature of contemporary liberalism is best described as a rejection of common sense, as we see today in the simultaneous embrace of SSM and the venomous denunciation of opponents of SSM as lunatic simpletons.
"The heresy of heresies was common sense," as Orwell wrote. I think if brought back to life he would be horrified by much of what passes for thought amongst his cohorts on the Left.
Welcome back John Grant -- you've been gone too long... · 18 hours ago
Edited 18 hours ago
Feb '12
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Question to Mr Grant, What was Hegel's influence on progressive thought? Not having much formal training in philosophy, I admit I've tried to read what this fellow was about but my eyes glaze over. Thanks for your insights.
Sep '10
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
A quote from TR's speech at the end of the Heritage piece caught my eye.
“if we do not have the right kind of law and the right kind of administration of the law, we cannot go forward as a nation.”
In their fervor to improve the governing practices of the backward states via federal standards, TR and progressives of his time were simply naive. IMHO, they could not envision the world of NGO's, protected classes, and one-size-fits-all legal activism that exists today. Remember in the world of 1910, 20,000 workers per year died in the workplace (mostly coal miners). The Hatfield and McCoy feud was just cooling down. They were going after low hanging fruit.
I suspect that if you explained Title 9, or the Americans with Disablities Act, or Gay Marriage Curriculum for grade schools they would have laughed in your face because those things were so impossibly foolish as to not need consideration.
Consider it now.
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
The Progressives accepted Hegel's description of history as the arena where human freedom developed in a rational manner. Hegel and the Progressives rejected the natural law as the standard that should guide political life; historical progress was the new guide. Those nations that were taken to be most free were thought to be the most rational. A state where the details of life were overseen by impartial, expert administrators was the rational, final form of government.
The introduction to Hegel's _Philosophy of History_ is the most accessible presentation of the argument for history as the rational, progressive standard. His _Philosophy of Right_ describes the leading characteristics of the rational modern state (e.g. the bureaucracy).
I hope this is helpful!
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
The early Progressives would reject some aspects of later Liberalism (e.g. gay marriage,sexual liberation, no-fault divorce, much of contemporary feminism). But their view of government's power to regulate was quite expansive. See the Progressive Party Platform of 1912 (linked in the original) for some examples.
Ross Conatser: A quote from TR's speech at the end of the Heritage piece caught my eye.
“if we do not have the right kind of law and the right kind of administration of the law, we cannot go forward as a nation.”
. . . . IMHO, they could not envision the world of NGO's, protected classes, and one-size-fits-all legal activism that exists today. Remember in the world of 1910, 20,000 workers per year died in the workplace (mostly coal miners). The Hatfield and McCoy feud was just cooling down. They were going after low hanging fruit.
I suspect that if you explained Title 9, or the Americans with Disablities Act, or Gay Marriage Curriculum for grade schools they would have laughed in your face because those things were so impossibly foolish as to not need consideration.
Consider it now. · 5 hours ago
Jun '12
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
Ross Conatser:
I suspect that if you explained Title 9, or the Americans with Disablities Act, or Gay Marriage Curriculum for grade schools they would have laughed in your face because those things were so impossibly foolish as to not need consideration.
Consider it now. · 20 hours ago
Lets get in our Wayback machine and go back (say) 50 years, and tell people that in 50 years, the federal government will tell you what kind of toilet you can by, what kind of light bulb you can buy. I suspect they'd look at you like you were insane.
Sep '10
Re: Useful Readings on Progressivism and Contemporary Politics
And I would consider toilets and light bulbs way above soft drink sizes but there really is no end to the "sensible" regulation that can be imagined.