Upload
center-for-american-progress
View
214
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
1/23www.americanprogress.o
The Progressive IntellectualTradition in AmericaPart One o the Progressive Tradition Series
John Halpin and Conor P. Williams April 2010
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
2/23
The Progressive IntellectualTradition in AmericaPart One o the Progressive Tradition Series
John Halpin and Conor P. Williams April 2010
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
3/23
Contents 1 Introduction
4 The rise of progressivism
15 Conclusion
17 Endnotes
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
4/23
Wih he rise o he conemporary progressive movemen and he elecion o Presiden Barack
Obama in 2008, here is exensive public ineres in beter undersanding he origins, values, and
inellecual srands o progressivism. Who were he original progressive hinkers and aciviss?
Where did heir ideas come om and wha moivaed heir belies and acions? Wha were heir
main goals or sociey and governmen? How did heir ideas inuence or diverge om alernaive
social docrines? How do heir ideas and belies relae o conemporary progressivism?
Te new Progressive radiion Series om he Cener or American Progress races he develop-
men o progressivism as a social and poliical radiion sreching om he lae 19h cenury
reorm eors o he curren day. Te series is designed primarily or educaional and leadership
developmen purposes o help sudens and aciviss beter undersand he oundaions o pro-
gressive hough and is relaionship o poliics and social movemens. Alhough he Progressive
Sudies Program has is own views abou he relaive meri o he various values, ideas, and
acors discussed wihin he progressive radiion, he essays included in he series are descripive
and analyical raher han opinion-based. We envision he essays serving as primers or exploring
progressivism and liberalism in more deph hrough core exsand in conras o he conserva-
ive inellecual radiion and canon. We hope ha hese papers will promoe ongoing discourse
abou he proper role o he sae and individual in sociey, he relaionship beween empirical
evidence and policymaking , and how progressives oday migh approach specifc issues involv-ing he economy, healh care, energy-climae change, educaion, fnancial regulaion, social and
culural aairs, and inernaional relaions and naional securiy.
Par One examines he philosophical and heoreical developmen o progressivism as
a response o he rise o indusrial capialism in he lae 19h and early 20h cenuries.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
5/23
1 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Introduction
What is progressivism?
Progressivism a is core is grounded in he idea oprogressmoving beyond he saus
quo o more equal and jus social condiions consisen wih original American demo-
craic principles such as reedom, equaliy, and he common good. Progressivism as an
inellecual movemen emerged beween 1890 and 1920 as a response o he muliude o
problems associaed wih he indusrializaion o he U.S. economyrequen economic
depressions, poliical corrupion, rising povery, low wages, poor working condiions, en-
emen living, child labor, lack o collecive bargaining power, unsae consumer producs,
and he misuse o naural resources.
Te original Progressive Era is known primarily or wo major developmens in
American poliics:
One, political reformscraed o break up he power o privileged ineress, such as
expanded surage, direc primaries, direc elecion o senaors, and he iniiaive and
reerendum process
wo, economic reforms srucured o counerbalance he excessive power o business ando gh inequaliy measures such as he graduaed income and inheriance axes, he righ
o organize and oher labor proecions, unemploymen insurance, workers compensaion,
old age and disabiliy provisions, ood and drug saey laws, and conservaion measures
As a philosophical radiion, progressivism in is mos complee orm developed as a
new liberalism or a new cenuryupdaing he American liberal radiion rom is
Jeersonian, small-governmen, republican roos bes suied or he agrarian economy o
he naions ounding era o a more democraic and modern liberalism capable o checking
rising corporae power. Te original progressives argued ha changes in he economys
organizaion required a more complee undersanding o human reedom, equaliy, and
opporuniy ha Jeerson championed so persuasively. Progressives believed ha ormallegal reedom alonehe negaive proecions agains governmen inrusions on per-
sonal liberywere no enough o provide he eecive reedom necessary or ciizens o
ulll heir human poenial in an age o rising inequaliy, palry wages, and labor abuses.
Changed condiions demanded a changed deense o human libery.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
6/23
2 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Wriing a he heigh o he New Deal reorm era, John Dewey explained he progressive
view o libery as a coninuaion o hisoric movemens or human liberaion:
Libery in he concree signies release rom he impac o paricular oppressive orces;
emancipaion rom somehing once aken as a normal par o human lie bu now
experienced as bondage. A one ime, libery signied liberaion rom chatel slavery;
a anoher ime, release o a class rom serdom. During he lae seveneenh and earlyeigheenh cenuries i mean liberaion rom despoic dynasic rule. A cenury laer
i mean release o indusrialiss rom inheried legal cusoms ha hampered he rise
o new orces o producion. oday i signies liberaion rom maerial insecuriy and
rom he coercions and repressions ha preven muliudes rom he paricipaion in
he vas culural resources ha are a hand.1
Progressives argued ha rigid adherence o pas versions o limied governmen had o
be discarded in order o promoe genuine libery and opporuniy or people a a ime o
concenraed economic power. Progressives challenged excessive individualism in social
hough and poliics, promoed an alernaive o laissez-aire economics, and replaced
consiuional ormalism wih a more responsive legal order ha expanded American
democracy and superseded he economic saus quo wih a sronger naional ramework o
regulaions and social reorms.
Progressives sough above all o give real meaning o he promise o he Preamble o he
U.S. ConsiuionWe he people working ogeher o build a more perec union, pro-
moe he general welare, and expand prosperiy o all ciizens. Drawing on he American
naionalis radiion o Alexander Hamilon and Abraham Lincoln, progressives posied
ha sronger governmen acion was necessary o advance he common good, regulae busi-
ness ineress, promoe naional economic growh, proec workers and amilies displaced
by modern capialism, and promoe rue economic and social opporuniy or all people.
In he amous ormulaion o progressive hough oen associaed wih he progressive
heoris Herber Croly, his mean using Hamilonian means (naional acion) o achieve
Jeersonian ends (libery, equaliy, and opporuniy). Progressives overall goal was o
replace a rigid economic philosophyone ha had morphed rom is egaliarian roos
ino a legalisic deense o economic power and privilegewih a more democraic polii-
cal order ha allowed people o ourish individually wihin a larger naional communiy.
Progressivism has always been par o a broader global movemen o build a more humane,
jus, and economically sable inernaional communiy based on ull opporuniy and sel-
deerminaion or all ciizens. Progressives on boh sides o he Alanic learned rom oneanoher in heir atemps o build more responsive and democraic governmens. Bu as a
disincly American response o he naions economic condiions and is poliical radi-
ion, progressivism seered a middle way beween he radical ideas o socialism prevalen
in some pars o Europe and he unbending hands-o approach o conservaives ascendan
in he Unied Saes.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
7/23
3 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
In erms o is poliical values, progressivism hroughou he years sressed a range o ideals
ha remain imporan oday:
Freedom, in is ulles sense, including negaive reedom rom undue coercion by
governmen or sociey and he eecive reedom o every person o lead a ullling and
economically secure lie
The common good,broadly meaning a commimen in governmen and sociey o plac-
ing public needs and he concerns o he leas well-o above narrow sel-ineres or he
demands o he privileged
Pragmatism, boh in is philosophical orm o evaluaing ideas based on heir real world
consequences raher han absrac ideals, and in more pracical erms as an approach o
problem solving grounded in science, empirical evidence, and policy experimenaion
Equality, as rs pu orh by Jeerson in he Declaraion o Independence and updaed
in he Universal Declaraion o Human Righs, All human beings are born ree and
equal in digniy and righs. Tey are endowed wih reason and conscience and should
ac owards one anoher in a spiri o broherhood.
Social justice, he proper arrangemen o law, sociey, and he economy o ensure ha
all people have he ormal and inormal capaciy o shape heir own lives and realize
heir dreams
Democracy, he ull paricipaion o ciizens in he major decisions and debaes ha
aec heir lives
Cooperation and interdependence, paricularly as hese ideas relae o global aairs, anoverall humaniarian vision, and he imporance o shared social and economic knowledge
Tis paper explores hese progressive values and radiions in more deail by looking a he
hisorical conex ha gave rise o progressivism, he conservaive radiions i challenged,
and is afrmaive values, ideas, and goals.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
8/23
4 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
The rise of progressivism
Responding to industrial capitalism, constitutional formalism, andphilosophical individualism
Te inellecual developmen o American progressivism has is roos in he difcul
ransiion rom an agrarian o an indusrial economy in he 19h and 20h cenuries.
Te Unied Saes grew and changed a an impossible pace beween he Civil War and
World War II. Fundamenal economic and poliical shis helped o drive correspond-
ing changes in American philosophical and poliical hough. A naion nearly orn apar
by compeing visions o is undamenal ideniy became a naion unied in deense o
reedom across he globe.
Progressivism emerged as a necessary response o he shiing naure o American lie, as
hisorian Waler Nugen describes in his recen book on he era:
Americans increasingly gained he sense, as he nineeenh cenury lumbered
hrough is nal years, ha heir sociey was changingsomeimes or he beter,
bu in imporan ways, or he worse. Undoubedly beter were he prosperiy ha
marked he 1880s, he muliplicaion o miles o railroad racks ha promoed and
enabled economic developmen, he rs elecried ciy srees and public places,and he rs skyscrapers. On he oher hand, undoubedly worse were he working
condiions in acories and mines, he monopolisic conrol ha hose very railroads
placed on millions o armers, and above all he increasingly visible dispariies in
rewards beween he mos orunae members o sociey and he general mass o
people. Te rich were geting richerar richerhan mos people. Up o a poin
ha seemed reasonable and jusiable, bu beyond ha poin, i el unair and
unjus. Wha, i anyhing, could be done?2
Te various inellecual srands o progressivism were rooed in he naions atemp o
respond o he opporuniy and srain o such widespread changes. Progressive criiques
o indusrial capialism, consiuional ormalism, and philosophical individualism ormedhe backdrop o an alernaive moral and poliical sysem ha dramaically changed and
improved American lie during his period.3 Te response o hese challenges ormed he
core o he progressive inellecual radiion rom is incepion. Tese challenges reiner-
preed he American radiion in a variey o powerul ways and helped o pave a pah o a
more vibran democraic poliy.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
9/23
5 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Challenge one: Industrial capitalism
Progressivism developed alongside and in response o grea advances in scienic and
echnological knowledge in he 1800s.4 Pos-Civil War America was convering rom a
naion o small arms o a naion wih signican urban indusrial ceners. Scienic prog-
ress led o urher innovaion in indusrial echnology as he ciies grew. Te American
economy became a signican source o nished goods insead o exporing only rawgoods and naural resources. Tis boom in boh he scope and diversiy o American pro-
ducion, along wih major miliary mobilizaions, brough he Unied Saes o he global
economic and poliical oreron.
Many individuals le heir rural homes and moved o he growing urban ceners,
leaving behind he social neworks ha had long susained American communiy lie.
Unorunaely, he economic opporuniies ha drew individuals o he ciies were oen
buil upon consolidaion o corporae inuence and growing inequaliies ha also chal-
lenged he sabiliy o radiional social norms. Te breakdown o hese srong communi-
ies and radiions le many individuals isolaed and vulnerablesocially, economically,
and poliically.
Monopolizaion o key indusries like seel, exiles, and he railroads hreaened laborers
and consumers alike. Hisorian Chrisopher Lasch wries, Te energies released by he
Civil War proved almos wholly commercial and rapacioushe old Yankee shrewdness
wihou is Purian scruples or even he rusic simpliciy ha once served as a parial
check on he appeie o wealh.5 Ten, as now, corporae economic ineress jusied
heir acions by wrapping hemselves in he heories o naural righs, he Consiuion,
and American individualism ha had dened an early par o American sociey.
Financiers, indusrialiss, conservaive poliicians, and juriss claimed or corporaions
he same proecion o accumulaed wealh, propery, and conracs ha individualsreceived under he Bill o Righs.
Competing voices
So-called Social Darwiniss looked a he new economic condiions as simply an exen-
sion o he biological compeiion or survival. Herber Spencers Social Saics inspired
hese hinkers o apply biological principles o human economic relaions. In Wha he
Social Classes Owe o Each Oher, William Graham Sumner oulined he enes o he
Social Darwinis approach or American audiences, arguing ha naural concenraion o
wealh is desirable and ha governmen economic inervenion is dangerous.
Using language suggesive o Ayn Rands laer objecivism, Sumner ook a hard line
regarding wealh accumulaion, arguing ha individual members o a communiy ough
o pursue heir own sel-ineres wihou inererence rom ohersparicularly public
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
10/23
6 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
insiuions. Individuals should never be asked o give o hose who hey do no choose,
insead orming ies wihou avor or obligaion, and [cooperaing] wihou cringing or
inrigue. Sumner claimed ha noble social reormers robbed hose who had success-
ully won heir wealh and perpeuaed weakness and dependency on he par o he poor.6
Social Darwiniss believed ha robus economic growh and he srengh o American
sociey depended upon preserving he markes compeiive sphere despie any sysemaic
cruelies his aciviy migh produce.
More uopian hinkers on he opposie end o he ideological specrum enhusiasically,
and somewha naively, seized upon new scienic knowledge as proo ha humans could
build a world devoid o pain and suering. Edward Bellamys widely read novel,Looking
Backwards, was archeypal o newound American aih in a perecible uure.7 Bellamy
depiced a world where he problems o scarciy and resource disribuion had been
compleely solved by echnological and scienic means. A he 20h cenurys ouse,
machines seemed o be removing oil and rouble rom he leas pleasan pars o human
exisencewho would claim o know heir l imis?
Similarly expansive in his expecaions o he new era, pragmais philosopher Charles
Saunders Peirce wondered i scienic inquiry were o go on or a million, or a billion, or
any number o years you please, how is i possible o say ha here is any quesion wha
migh no ulimaely be solved?8 New managemen heoriss such as Frederick Winslow
aylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreh sough o design beter and more efcien acories,
workows, and even kichens.9 Tere seemed o be no limi o he benes o applying
science o human problems or hese and many oher echnological uopians. American
ingenuiy migh solve any problem wih enough ime and energy.
Sill ohers were less sanguine abou he eecs ha ongoing indusrializaion o he
American economy would have on longsanding elemens o American lie. Conservaivepopulis inellecuals in he Souhern Agrarian radiion claimed ha a bes, indusrial-
izaion was irrelevan o human moral difculies, and a wors, exacerbaed hem.10 Tey
argued ha mos American poliical problems were moral, while he scienic mehod
could yield only echnical soluions.
Even moderae liberals such as Reinhold Niebuhr oered cauions laer in he 20h cen-
ury o overweening aih in human science. Niebuhr, a miniser, argued ha hose who
hoped or worldly or maerial salvaion by indusrial means ignored he depraviy and
injusice such a process brough ino he world, wriing: Nohing ha is worh doing can
be achieved in our lieime; hereore we mus be saved by hope. Nohing which is rue or
beauiul or good makes complee sense in any immediae conex o hisory; hereore wemus be saved by aih.11
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
11/23
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
12/23
8 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
indusrializaion had improved he overall qualiy o lie in a number o ways, is ailures
were becoming more apparen o Americans. Progressives demanded ha Americans con-
sider wheher he consequences o heir economic and poliical insiuions were consis-
en wih American noions o equal reamen and jusice.
Te mos exended reamen o his line o progressive poliical hough emerged rom
Herber Croly in his inuenial 1909 book, Te Promise o American Lie. Many com-menaors poin o Crolys amous ome when looking or he seminal ex o progressive
hough. Tis is undersandable, i somewha oversaed, given he hisorical and heorei-
cal deph o he book ha is missing in earlier racs. For Croly, he Jeersonian goal o
equal righs or all and special privileges or none was grounded in a myopic view o he
economy and a nave desire o reurn American sociey o imes ha no longer exised.
Crolys alernaive was a progressive version o Hamilonian naionalism wih expanded
powers or he execuive branch o help guide and regulae he economy and provide or
he general welare o hose le behind in he new economy.
Unlike he more populis reormers who waned o resric he size o new business con-
glomeraes in avor o smaller producers and compeiion, Croly acceped he rise o large
corporaions and combinaion o business ineress as a necessary and poenially useul
developmen in he American economy i heir power was me by an equally powerul
naional governmen. Croly was also skepical o large labor unions and waned a srong
sae o keep excessive demands rom workers in check as i counered business and
pursued new policies o resore opporuniy and alleviae social problems. Te noion o
srong naional execuive and more eecive public adminisraion o deal wih he numer-
ous challenges o modern lie arose o ou hese ideas. Many o hese ideas were made real-
iy in he early presidency o Teodore Roosevel and he laer presidencies o Woodrow
Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevel.
Crolys poliical philosophy is oen criicized by hose on he righ or being oo sae
ocused and, by exension, oo collecivis. Croly, however, clearly saes in his less sudied
bu more complee work,Progressive Democracy, ha he goal o his new economic naion-
alism is wholly consisen wih he principles o democracy and is designed o allow human
auonomy o ourish wihin a sronger commimen o common naional purpose, much
as Lincoln had argued.17 Furhermore, Croly explicily rejecs more radical ideas abou he
organizaion o sociey saying, Te recogniion o a necessary inequaliy and injusice in
he operaion o he exising insiuion o privae propery, coupled wih he recogniion
ha he immediae aboliion o privae propery would be boh unjus and impracicable,
consiues he oundaion o any really naional and progressive economic policy.18
Croly accepted the r
o large corporation
combination o busi
interests as a necess
and potentially use
development in the
American economy
their power was me
by an equally power
national governmen
PhoTo: PorTraiT of herberT croly, Public domain
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
13/23
9 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Challenge two: Constitutional formalism
Progressives poined o hisory and earlier American ehical and poliical commimens o
srenghen heir economic argumens. Tey argued ha poliical insiuions and eco-
nomic policy should be oriened o mach a paricular concepion o democracy buil rom
core American noions o airness, equaliy, and libery. While many conservaives read
he Consiuion as a xed se o principles whose aleraion would ear apar he abrico American democracy, progressives answered ha he Consiuion should be read as a
commimen o he realizaion o democracy.19 Advocaing or a new inerpreaion o
he U.S. Consiuionone more consisen wih he democraic inenions o he early
Americansbecame a major componen o he progressive poliical and economic projecs.
For Dewey and oher progressive hinkers, American democracy was ounded as a
promise o be ullled or a projec o be underaken, raher han a saic se o principles.
Experience and evidence matered o progressives in deermining how bes o ulll con-
siuional promises. Noions o unbending lieralism in inerpreing he Consiuion was
as anahema o progressive inellecuals as i was o Tomas Jeerson himsel in 1816:
Some men look a consiuions wih sancimonious reverence, and deem hem like
he arc o he covenan, oo sacred o be ouched. Tey ascribe o he men o he
preceding age a wisdom more han human, and suppose wha hey did o be beyond
amendmen. I knew ha age well; I belonged o i, and labored wih i. I deserved well
o is counry. I was very like he presen, bu wihou he experience o he presen;
and ory years o experience in governmen is worh a cenury o book reading; and
his hey would say hemselves, were hey o rise rom he dead. I am cerainly no an
advocae or requen and unried changes in laws and consiuions. I hink moder-
ae imperecions had beter be borne wih; because, when once known, we accom-
modae ourselves o hem, and nd pracical means o correcing heir ill eecs. BuI know also, ha laws and insiuions mus go hand in hand wih he progress o he
human mind. As ha becomes more developed, more enlighened, as new discoveries
are made, new ruhs disclosed, and manners and opinions change wih he change o
circumsances, insiuions mus advance also, and keep pace wih he imes. We migh
as well require a man o wear sill he coa which ted him when a boy, as civilized
sociey o remain ever under he regimen o heir barbarous ancesors.20
Herber Croly denounced he saic, conservaive inerpreaion o he Consiuion in
Progressive Democracy as rerograde and insufcien or he modern age: Te paricular
expression o he conservaive spiri o which progressivism nds isel opposed is essen-
ially, and, as i seems, necessarily docrinaire and dogmaic. I is based upon an unquali-ed afrmaion o he necessiy o he radiional consiuional sysem o he poliical
salvaion o American democracy.21
Laws and institution
must go hand in han
with the progress o
human mind.
- Thomas Jeerson, 1816
PhoTo: PorTraiT of Thomas jefferson, gilberT sTuagallery of arT, WashingTon
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
14/23
10 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
For progressives, he Consiuion derived is value no solely rom is original language
odious elemens like he hree-hs and ugiive slave rade clauses ormalizing racial
prejudice made ha clearbu rom he commimen o achieve more robus orms
o democracy.22 Progressives argued ha hose seeking o uncriically appropriae he
Founding Fahers and he ounding momen as deenders o upper-class prejudice and
classical economics had urned he Declaraion and he Consiuion ino meaningless
jusicaions o he saus quo.
Insead o abandoning he Consiuion alogeheror dismissing i merely as a ool or
eliesmos progressives mainained ha he American radiion conained he maeri-
als or is own correcion and revializaion. In his vein, many progressives including
Addams, Dewey, and Croly drew upon he legacy o Abraham Lincoln, who Dewey
ermed our mos beloved American.23
Tough Lincoln himsel was no a progressive in any sric sense (he erm was no in use
mid-cenury), his broad inuence on American poliics unquesionably inuenced he
rajecory o progressivism. Lincolns greaes conribuion o reinerpreing he American
Consiuion was his claim ha he Unied Saes represens an experimen, ounded
upon wha he called he American poliical religion. In oher words, American poliics
resed upon poliical ideals gleaned rom is culural radiions: W hile ever a sae o eel-
ing, such as his, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail hroughou he naion,
vain will be every eor, and ruiless every atemp, o subver our naional reedom.24
Lincoln believed ha American poliical sabiliy, indeed, he union isel, depended
upon broad naional convicions, no narrow inerpreaions o specic elemens o he
Consiuion. He believed ha o be an American was o appreciae all he good done in
he pas, o remember how i was done and who did i, and how we are hisorically con-
neced wih i [so] we eel more atached he one o he oher, and more rmly bound ohe counry we inhabi.25 For Lincoln, he progressives, and laer leaders like Marin Luher
King Jr., he American ounding was noable or is commimen o egaliarian democracy
as an approach o communiy lie. Tus, poliics was a mater o bringing ormal insiuions
ino line wih shis in American undersandings o libery, equaliy, and jusice. 26 Te ac
ha he proecions in he Bill o Righs are now graned o women, Arican Americans, and
oher minoriies is proo o he power o Lincolns vision. His was a broad poliics o shared
naional ideals, paricularly hose embodied in he Declaraion o Independence.
Jusice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissening opinion in Lochnerv. New York illusraes he
progressive reamen o he Consiuion well . Te case asked he Cour o consider
wheher or no saes could regulae economic behavior, specically he number o hoursworked per day and week. Tough his own credenials were unclear o many progressives,
Jusice Holmes argumen ha he Consiuion is no inended o embody a paricular
economic heory, wheher o paernalism and he organic relaion o he ciizen o he
Sae or o laissez aire exemplied he progressive challenge o consiuional ormalism.
Lincoln believed tha
American political
stability depended
upon broad nationa
convictions, not narr
interpretations o
specifc elements o
Constitution.PhoTo: PorTraiT of abraham lincoln, library of coPresTon buTler
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
15/23
11 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
While his ellow jusices argued ha consiuional proecions o he righ o conrac
and ree pursui o propery prevened saes rom regulaing working condiions, Holmes
claimed ha such general proposiions do no decide concree cases. In simple erms,
Holmes considered how consiuional principles and heir inerpreaion changed over
ime, considering he Consiuion as a living documen.27
Jusice Louis Brandeis, Holmes colleague, is especially eloquen on his poin. Brandeisexplained in his amed essay, Te Living Law, ha he meaning o he American
Consiuion necessarily shied as democracy deepened over ime. Firs pursuing a
governmen o laws and no o men, Americans laer sough a governmen o he people,
by he people, and or he people, and nally pursued democracy and social jusice.
I should be noed, however, ha Brandeis believed his argumen o be well wihin he
American ounding radiion. He considered Alexander Hamilon an aposle o he living
law, since he always considered he law o be a realiy, quick and human, buxom and
jolly, and no a ormula, pinched, si, banded and dusy like a royal mummy o Egyp.28
He argued ha cours could no remain dea and blind o newly arisen social needs
wihou eroding respec or he law and he broader legal sysem as a whole. Jus as
resricive laissez-aire economic ideology was insrumenally useul o pluocras wih
an ineres in exploiing workers, consiuional ormalism allowed cours o [reuse] o
consider he acs o lie in deciding any laws consiuionaliy. Brandeis mainained as
a resul ha no law, writen or unwriten, can be undersood wihou a ull knowledge o
he acs ou o which i arises, and o which i is o be applied. Te meaning o a law is o
be considered in erms o is consequences, no a priori principles or xed inerpreaions
o such principles.
Since progressives are oen misundersood on his poin, a preempive correcion
is necessary. Conservaives someimes charge ha hose who would reinerpre heConsiuion srip i o any xed meaning a all. Brandeis did no sugges ha he
Consiuionsor any lawsleter was irrelevan, only ha is spiri changed wih
is social eecs.29 Brandeis and ohers held ha he Consiuion clearly seeks o orm a
more perec union, esablish Jusice, insure domesic ranquiliy, provide or he com-
mon deence, promoe he general Welare, and secure he Blessings o Libery. Tese
ideals should guide he spiri wih which he res o he documen is inerpreed.30
Tis approach o consiuional law mirrored conemporary developmens in American
poliical philosophy. During his period, poliical hinkers led by John Dewey, Leser Ward,
and ohers engaged in an exhausive reanalysis o he oundaions o American poliics.
Orbiing a various disances around he pragmais school o philosophy and poliicalhough, hese heoriss argued ha American poliics (no only consiuional law) was
conned wihin excessively ormal limis o is own.
[Law is] a reality, qu
and human, buxom
jolly, and not a orm
pinched, sti, bande
and dusty like a roya
mummy o Egypt.
Justice Louis Brandeis
PhoTo: PorTraiT of jusTice louis brandeis, library oPrinTs and PhoTograPhs division
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
16/23
12 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Challenge three: Philosophical individualism
American pragmaism emerged as he philosophical response o he social and economic
ux o he Civil War and years immediaely aerward. Te subsanial changes in human
lie during his period promped hinkers such as Charles Saunders Peirce, William James,
and John Dewey o reevaluae he worh o ruhs long considered xed and unchange-
able.31 Te legacy o American pragmaism in poliics was o replace he dominan individ-ualis philosophy o laissez-aire conservaism wih a commimen o social and poliical
reorms evaluaed by heir real world consequences raher han absrac principles.
Peirce is generally credied wih ormulaing he rs ormal version o pragmaism. He
suggesed ha he eecs and pracical bearings o an absrac concepion are he
whole o [he] concepion.32 James ormulaed he same idea in somewha more sraigh-
orward erms: Te pragmaic mehod in such cases is o ry o inerpre each noion by
racing is respecive pracical consequences. Wha dierence would i pracically make o
anyone i his noion raher han ha noion were rue? You mus bring ou o each word
is pracical cash value, se i a work wihin he sream o your experience.33
Tis reconsideraion o he meaning o ruh was he mos novel and undamenal elemen
in heir work, bu i ook Dewey o draw ou is poliical implicaions.34 Dewey wroe
canonical works o philosophy, educaional heory, and democraic poliical heory in an
academic career spanning nearly 70 years. InLiberalism and Social Acion, Te Public and
is Problems,Individualism Old and New, andDemocracy and Educaion, he argued ha
American democracy needed o be reed rom classical liberalisms version o naural
individual righs in order o generae rue reedom.
Liberal hinkers since John Locke and Tomas Paine had argued ha he individual was
he mos imporan uni o poliical analysis. Individuals were born naurally ree wih arigh o make use o all o naures accessible resources.35 In such an uncerain sae, each
man evenually agreed o conrac wih oher men o accep some limis o each o heir
reedom in order o secure he goods available o a unied communiy.36 When oulining
hese limis, men sough o ensure ha hey received he maximum o collecive goods
saey and sabiliywhile giving up he minimum degree o individual libery.
Te work o Locke and ohers was o ouline he conours o his exchange, and many
concluded ha men in such a sae would righly insis upon proecion o large spheres
o individual acion rom inererence by communiy insiuions. Men engaging in he
social conrac sough individual righs, and since hey were deended as hose ha all men
would require in order o give up heir naural libery, hese righs were naural. Nauralrighs were rm oundaions or setling poliical dispues because hey derived rom
inheren elemens in mans makeup.37
Bu how solid were hese oundaions when esed in pracice? Dewey argued ha he
Men sought to ensu
that they received thmaximum o collect
goodssaety and
stabilitywhile givi
up the minimum de
o individual liberty.PhoTo: PorTraiT of john locke, naTional PorTraiT glondon: nPg 3846
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
17/23
13 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
consequences o xed naural righs o individuals were incompaible wih any serious
noion o poliical libery. Te meaning o naural righs in pragmaic erms consised o
heir eecs. I he radiional inerpreaion o he righ o amass propery resuled in
suering, exploiaion, and inequaliy, hen his was he real meaning o his principle. I
remained or voers and poliical leaders o consider i hese consequences were in keeping
wih he good o he communiy, bu Dewey was convinced ha hey were no.
While he social conrac radiion sill conained worhwhile insighs and necessary
proecions o individuals, classical liberal individualism was in need o serious renovaion.
Pu simply, Dewey opposed he rigidiy o exising inerpreaions o naural righs, no
he noion ha individual libery should be proeced. I democracy was o be deepened
in Brandeiss sense, i would need o adap o he new limis individuals aced in modern,
indusrialized democracies.
Dewey argued in hisIndividualism Old and New ha exising poliical proecions o he
individual were well ou o sep wih he ransormaions wihin he Unied Saes. While
American individuals a he ounding sough proecion rom governmen inervenion in
heir privae lives, 20h cenury Americans ound heir lives more dangerously deermined
by massive economic and social orces. Dewey wroe, Presen evil consequences are
reaed as i hey were eernally necessary, because hey canno be made consisen wih
he ideals o anoher age. In realiy, a machine age is a challenge o generae new concep-
ions o he ideal and he spiriual.38
Te devaluing o human individualiy was especially damaging o he poor. Modern
economic complexiy rendered i nearly impossible or modern laborers o undersand he
causes o heir predicamen or how hey migh escape i. Tis was, or Dewey, a perjuring
o liberalisms undamenal promise: he liberaion o individuals so ha realizaion o
heir capaciies may be he law o heir lie.39
I naural righs once oered individuals reedom, hey had since become complici in
consraining hem. Once more, progressives argued ha pas ideology could no be blindly
relied upon o solve all presen and uure poliical problems. Te work o modern poliics,
in heir eyes, was o discern wha resources rom he American radiion could be brough
o bear on hese challenges.
In oher words, Deweys atemp o build a renascen liberalism was an atemp o draw
orh a concepion o posiive libery wihin he American radiion. In his amous essay,
wo Conceps o Libery, philosopher Isaiah Berlin argues ha here are wo undamen-
al ways o undersanding libery. Negaive libery is he reedom rom ormal coercion,resrain, or limis. I is closely linked o he classical l iberal school o poliical hough.
Posiive libery is he reedom o pursue and achieve ends. I is oen considered in erms
o human individual ourishing. Individuals are ree insoar as hey are capable o pursu-
ing he ends hey choose. Dewey ook his o be he rue meaning o libery in a modern
democraic sae.40
Present evil
consequences are
treated as i they we
eternally necessary,
because they cannomade consistent wit
the ideals o anothe
age. In reality, a mac
age is a challenge
to generate new
conceptions o the i
and the spiritual.38
John DeweyPhoTo: PorTraiT of john deWey, aP PhoTo
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
18/23
14 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Progressives undersood ha individual poliical libery could no be divorced rom
economic or social consideraions. Dewey wroe, Assured and inegraed individualiy
is he produc o denie social relaionships and publicly acknowledged uncions.41
Sysemic limiaions o individuals could jus as easily be economic or social, paricularly i
individual libery was considered in erms broader han being le alone. Te absence o
ofcial poliical resrains was no guaranee o individual libery. Progressives held ha he
ormal righ o amass propery mean nohing o a human wihou resources or skills bywhich o obain hem. Dewey argued ha i was he job o public insiuions o butress
individuals agains he aciviy o consolidaed economic ineress. Democracy as an ideal
required ha individual libery be considered in erms o boh human ourishing and
sel-deerminaion.42
Mos progressives appreciaed ha naural righs proecions applied o all individuals.
Tey rejeced, however, he noion ha hese could be as xed or as ormal as usually
presened and denied ha hese naural righs sancioned a paricular economic regime
ha proeced accumulaed wealh and corporae power. Dewey argued ha rue libery
was hisorical, social, and economic in characer: I he early liberals had pu orh heir
special inerpreaion o libery as somehing subjec o hisorical relaiviy hey would
no have rozen i ino a docrine o be applied a all imes under all social circumsances
hey would have recognized ha eecive libery is a uncion o he social condiions
exising a any ime.43
For progressives, hereore, real libery can only be measured in erms o wha individu-
als are capable o successully doing wihin a ramework o guaraneed civil righs and
liberies. Righs wihou capaciy are meaningless, paricularly in a democraic regime
promising a air chance o each o is ciizens. Progressives argued ha he economic and
social hreas o American individual libery required poliical responses. From Presiden
Teodore Roosevels rus busing o Presiden Franklin D. Roosevels New Deal pro-grams, progressives reused o accep ha he presen generaion o economic iniquiies
were irreparable, le alone consisen wih he inen o American democracy rom he
naions incepion orward.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
19/23
15 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Conclusion
Toward a more democratic national community
Herber Croly argues inProgressive Democracy ha progressives had a duy o oer a
workable alernaive poliical heory o complemen heir horoughgoing criique o he
conservaive economic and consiuional sysem: I progressivism is o be consrucive
raher han merely resoraive, i mus be prepared o replace he old order wih a new
social bond, which will be no less secure han is predecessor, bu which will serve sill
more eecually as an impulse, an inspiraion and a leaven.44
For Croly, Dewey, and oher progressives, he alernaive o he ailed docrines o conser-
vaism inheried rom he 19h cenury was simplemore democracy and greaer public
conrol over our poliics and economy. Since progressives argued ha public policy ough
o be designed o serve he common good, many enhusiasically applied he scienic
mehod o he sudy o poliics. Invigoraed by recen successes in he naural sciences,
progressives believed ha economic and poliical science could help o improve public
policys eeciveness and accounabiliy. Modern sociology and psychology provided pro-
gressives wih helpul evidence in suppor o poliical change. In many cases, his approach
led o new, comprehensive shis in he approach o longsanding poliical problems. Tis
was paricularly useul or adjudicaing beween compeing ineress in he poliical, eco-nomic, and social spheres, since i provided a way o sripping away rheoric and exploring
he acual consequences o various policy approaches.
Progressivismhe promoion o human auonomy wihin a democraic naional com-
muniyhus provided Americans wih he means and he ideas o shape heir own lives
and desinies in beter ways. I provided hem a viable way o ree hemselves rom he
yranny o excessive corporae power and a corrup poliical class wihou losing he posi-
ive eecs o echnology, indusrializaion, and capialism. I made economic behavior
subjec o public regulaion, insead o neglecing he dominaion o public insiuions by
economic ineress. I paved he way oward he midcenury mixed economy ha lied
living sandards or millions o people, reduced povery and inequaliy, and helped o cre-ae he vas American middle class.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
20/23
16 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
Tis philosophical commimen o a more democraic naional governmen in pracical
erms mean more direc paricipaion o ciizens in he selecion o heir leaders and he
workings o governmen; more democraic conrol over heir workplaces, homes, neigh-
borhoods, and environmen; more nancial proecions or workers and amilies rom
he vagaries o he economy; and a more unied commimen o he American people o
ackle large-scale naional problems.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
21/23
17 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
1 John Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 11: 19 35-1937[electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 35-6.
2 Walter Nugent, Progressivism:A Very Short Introduction (New York: OxordUniversity Press, 2010), p. 6.
3 Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2001), xi.
4 Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion: An American history(Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press, 1998).
5 Christopher Lasch, The True and Only Heaven: Progress and its Critics (NewYork: W.W. Norton, 1991), p. 280.
6 William Graham Sumner, What the Social Classes Owe to One Another(NewYork: Harper and Brothers, 1884), p. 23 and 26.
7 Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward From 2000 to 1887(Peterborough,Ontario: Broadview Press, 2003).
8 Charles Saunders Peirce, The Essential Writings. In Edward C. Moore, ed.(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998), p. 156.
9 Lasch, The True and Only Heaven, p. 224; Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Primer oScientifc Management(Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1912).
10 Twelve Southerners, Ill Take My Stand: The South and the agrarian tradition(Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2006).
11 Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony o American History(Chicago: University oChicago Press, 2008), p. 63.
12 Menand, The Metaphysical Club, p. 30814.
13 John Dewey, Individualism Old and New. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 5: 192 9-1930 [electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 104.
14 Louis Brandeis, The Living Law, Cardozo Law Review, available at http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23 (last accessed February
16, 2010).
15 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 84; John Dewey, Education or a
Changing Social Order. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The Later Works o JohnDewey, 19251953, Volume 9: 19331934 [electronic edition] (Carbondale,IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 163: Economic conditions now
are entangled at every point with politics, and economic orces decide political
activity. Nevertheless, the determining economic conditions operate in waysthat are not open and clear to the mass o the citizens. In theory and to a large
degree practically in the minds o the average citizen politics and economics are
kept apart. In spite o the act that every important political issue arises out o
industry, business and nance, we are constantly led to suppose that political
and legal institutions work on independent and separate lines, lines that werelaid down long ago and that are thoroughly democratic.
16 Charles Beard, The Constitution as Economic Document inAn Economic Inter-pretation o the Constitution o the United States (New York: Free Press, 1986).
17 See Sidney Pearson, Introduction, in Herbert Croly, Progressive Democracy(New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1998), p. xlv.
18 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p.113.
19 John Dewey, Freedom and Culture. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The Later Workso John Dewey, 19251953, Volume 13: 19381939 (Carbondale, IL: SouthernIllinois University Press, 2003), p. 1 78. For one example o laissez-aire interpre-
tation o the Constitution, see Justi ce Ruus Wheeler Peckhams majority opinion
in Lochnerv. New York.
20 Thomas Jeferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval, June 12, 1816.
21 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p. 20.
22 Richard Rorty,Achieving Our Country(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998).
23 John Dewey, Education or a New and Better World. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed.,The Later Works o John Dewey, 19251953, Volume 17: 18551953 [elec-tronic edition] (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 476.
24 Abraham Lincoln, The Perpetuation o Our Political Institutions: Address Beorethe Young Mens Lyceum o Springeld, Illinois. In Roy P. Basler, ed., AbrahamLincoln: His Speeches and Writings (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1946), p. 80-2.
25 Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln at Chicago, July 10, 1958. In Paul M. Angle, ed.,
Created Equal? The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates o 1858 (Chicago:University o Chicago Press, 1958), p. 40.
26 For a ascinating analysis o the role o equality in American political lie, see
Alexis de Tocquevilles sections on equality, liber ty, and individualism. Alexis de
Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), p. 5038.The sections on American philosophy (p. 42933) are also relevant to thesequestions.
27 Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissent in Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905), avail-able at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0198_0045_
ZD1.html (last accessed February 16, 2010).
28 Brandeis, The Living Law; Frederick Scott Oliver,Alexander Hamilton: Anessay on American union (New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1921), p. 123.
29 Brandeis, The Living Law.
30 U.S. Constitution, preamble.
31 Louis Menands Pulitzer Prize-winning The Metaphysical Club (cited above)explores pragmatisms genesis in great details, as does Cornell Wests The
American Evasion o Philosophy. Cornell West, The American Evasion oPhilosophy: A genealogy o pragmatism (Madison, WI: Wisconsin UniversityPress, 1989).
32 Charles Saunders Peirce, How to Make Our Ideas Clear and Pragmatism and
Pragmaticism. In Edward C. Moore, ed., The Essential Writings (Amherst, NY:Prometheus Books, 1998), p. 146 and 269.
33 William James, Pragmatism inPragmatism andThe Meaning o Truth (Cam-bridge: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 28 and 312.
34 Cornell West corroborates my claim in The American Evasion o Philosophy(p.6): It is with Dewey that American pragmatism achieves intellectual maturity,
historical scope, and political engagement.
35 Note that most social contract theorists rom Thomas Hobbes to Jean-Jacques
Rousseau to John Rawls accepted that the state o nature was a thought
experiment, not a real situation rom the past. Usually they suggested that it
was an efective way o stripping away modern biases in considering individuals
appropriate political obligations.
36 The use o men instead o humans here is intentional. Until the work o
Mary Wollstonecrat or Judith Sargent Murray, these arguments were largelyconsidered to be about the natural political status o males.
37 Again, the use o gender-biased language here is intentional.
38 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 76.
39 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, p. 41.
40 Isaiah Berlin, Two Concepts o Liberty in The Proper Study o Mankind: AnAnthology o Essays (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1997).
41 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 67.
42 John Dewey, The Public and its Problems. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 2: 1925-1927[electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 328.
43 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, p. 27 [emphasis added].
44 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p. 25.
Endnotes
http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23https://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttp://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=238/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
22/23
18 ct a P |T P itt Tt a
About the authors
John Halpin is a Senior Fellow a he Cener or American Progress ocusing on poliical
heory, communicaions, and public opinion analysis. He is he co-direcor and creaor o
he Progressive Sudies Program a CAP, an inerdisciplinary projec researching he inel-
lecual hisory, oundaional principles, and public undersanding o progressivism. Halpin
is also he co-auhor wih John Podesa oTe Power o Progress: How Americas ProgressivesCan (Once Again) Save Our Economy, Our Climae, and Our Counry, a 2008 book abou
he hisory and uure o he progressive movemen.
Conor P. Williams is pursuing a Ph.D. in governmen a Georgeown Universiy, wih a
ocus on hisorical oundaions o liberal rheoric. Aer graduaing rom Bowdoin College
in 2005, he augh rs grade or wo years as a each For America Corps member in
Crown Heighs, Brooklyn.
Acknowledgements
Te auhors would like o hank Megan Slack, Ed Paisley, Lauren Ferguson, Mara Cook,
and Ruy eixeira or heir valuable insighs and assisance in shaping his paper.
8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America
23/23
The Center or American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong, just and ree America that ensures opportunity
or all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies relect these values.
We work to ind progressive and pragmatic solutions to signiicant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that oster a government that
is o the people, by the people, and or the people.