Alonzo Hamby: Why liberals now call themselves progressives
The resurgence of "progressive" is an interesting semantic phenomenon.
In the days of Robert La Follette, Sr., Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, it meant a middle-class reformism that favored honest government, the employment of professionals and experts in administration and policy-making, and a more equitable society characterized by justice and opportunity for all classes and groups. In those days, more often than not, "liberal" still meant small government and laissez-faire, connected vaguely with the Jeffersonian tradition.
From the 1930s on "liberal" began to displace "progressive" as the preferred term for the reforming groups of the century. I think the rationale was a far broader definition of the "term liberty" to include material well-being, as in Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.
By then also "progressive" was taking on a somewhat different usage. The Communist party of the United States (and the Comintern) after 1935 sought unity with (and influence over) "the progressive forces" of Western nations in a "Popular Front" against fascism (a term the CPUSA interpreted very broadly after 1945). One US result was the Progressive party of 1948, a vehicle largely controlled and manipulated by the CPUSA in the interests of the Soviet Union. The Progressive party of 1948 was, appropriately enough, rejected by the political heirs of the the leader of the Progressive Party of 1924, the elder La Follette.
After 1948, "progressive" fell into disuse among reformers. Today, a good many. e.g., E. J. Dionne, want to resurrect it because "liberal" has taken on a bad odor in the larger political dialogue.
My own sense is that neither term is very good. The controlling impulse of today's Democratic party is akin to European social democracy, pressing more toward equality of condition than equality of opportunity.
I don't expect, however, to see our President-Elect, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, or assorted Democratic intellectuals adopt the term "social democratic" any time soon.
In the days of Robert La Follette, Sr., Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, it meant a middle-class reformism that favored honest government, the employment of professionals and experts in administration and policy-making, and a more equitable society characterized by justice and opportunity for all classes and groups. In those days, more often than not, "liberal" still meant small government and laissez-faire, connected vaguely with the Jeffersonian tradition.
From the 1930s on "liberal" began to displace "progressive" as the preferred term for the reforming groups of the century. I think the rationale was a far broader definition of the "term liberty" to include material well-being, as in Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.
By then also "progressive" was taking on a somewhat different usage. The Communist party of the United States (and the Comintern) after 1935 sought unity with (and influence over) "the progressive forces" of Western nations in a "Popular Front" against fascism (a term the CPUSA interpreted very broadly after 1945). One US result was the Progressive party of 1948, a vehicle largely controlled and manipulated by the CPUSA in the interests of the Soviet Union. The Progressive party of 1948 was, appropriately enough, rejected by the political heirs of the the leader of the Progressive Party of 1924, the elder La Follette.
After 1948, "progressive" fell into disuse among reformers. Today, a good many. e.g., E. J. Dionne, want to resurrect it because "liberal" has taken on a bad odor in the larger political dialogue.
My own sense is that neither term is very good. The controlling impulse of today's Democratic party is akin to European social democracy, pressing more toward equality of condition than equality of opportunity.
I don't expect, however, to see our President-Elect, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, or assorted Democratic intellectuals adopt the term "social democratic" any time soon.