Progressivism

Sponsorship the way you would do it

Progressive is a term often used by those on the political left to describe their beliefs. This term is preferred by many over the more traditional label in American politics, liberal, because of the association of liberal with the centrist politics of many Democratic Party politicians (such as Al Gore) in recent years. The term progressive is thus used to avoid confusion between the politicized term liberal and genuine philosophical views focused on social change. Progressive is viewed by some (and it technically is) as a loaded term, as it may imply that those opposed to "progressive" views are automatically regressive.

Progressive is used in place of liberal to best describe philosophical ideals that are opposite and contrasted to those held by conservatives. Political ideas that advocate rapid social change are likely to be progressive, while conservative ideas tend to reflect an adherence to established norms and support for (or furtherance of) the status quo. Continuing logically, by this spectrum, a philosophy that advocated reversing course to previous standards would be regressive, though this term is rarely used. Instead, the term reactionary is more frequently used to describe those who wish to return to previously established convention.

This is particularly useful when dealing with philosophical positions, since the liberal tradition has very particular and fixed Enlightenment connotations that may not necessarily have any useful meaning in the left political scene.

The term has its origin in American politics in the early part of the twentieth century. During this period, known as the Progressive Era, which saw the brief rise of the U.S. Progressive Party, many reforms were enacted. Some third-party presidential candidates ran for office during this time under the Progressive Party label, notably Robert M. La Follette, Sr. The Progressive Party of Canada also briefly rose to prominence in the 1920s.

Table of contents

1 Use of this term around the world

1.1 Australia
1.2 Canada