Ideology
ProgressivismCentre-left
Believes society can be improved through reform and scientific knowledge, supporting active government to expand rights, regulate business, reduce inequality and promote social change.
Portrait: Vladimir Vyatkin, derivative work by Jbarta, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Core ideas
- Society can improve over time through reform and empirical knowledge.
- Unregulated capitalism and monopolies are criticized and checked by an active government.
- Government should safeguard human rights and promote cultural development.
- Positive liberty, meaning real capacity to act, is a goal alongside formal freedom.
- Willingness to change old norms and institutions.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
It scores the highest on the society axis of any ideology here: far toward Progressive (scty 100 on Progressive/Traditional). The economy value leans toward Collectivize (econ 60 on Collectivize/Privatize), government toward Freedom (govt 40 on Security/Freedom) and diplomacy clearly toward Internationalism (dipl 80 on Internationalism/Nationalism). The test only measures the distance across these four axes, so a strongly progressive society score pulls answers toward this match, while the other three values are moderate.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
Sample result
History
It arose in the Age of Enlightenment from the belief that society was improving through new empirical knowledge; the Marquis de Condorcet predicted the end of slavery, rising literacy and prison reform. In the late nineteenth century it focused on the economic inequality and monopolies of laissez-faire industrial capitalism. A Protestant Social Gospel appeared in North America by the mid-1890s. The Progressive Era brought reforms, and Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a central concern. Some early progressive causes, such as eugenics, were later rejected. It is associated with social liberalism, social democracy and democratic socialism.
Associated thinkers
- Marquis de Condorcet
- Theodore Roosevelt
Common misunderstandings
- In searches it is often confused with an educational philosophy. This page covers the political philosophy of reform; progressive education is a separate topic.
- It is not the same as progressive in the sense of the axis label. The label measures attitudes to social change; the ideology also includes economic regulation and an active state.
Related ideologies
Is Progressivism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Progressivism?
A political philosophy that seeks to improve the human condition through reforms aimed at expanding positive liberty. It calls for regulating capitalism and for an active democratic government to protect rights.
Is Progressivism left or right?
Usually centre-left today, associated with variants of social liberalism, social democracy and democratic socialism. The term has been used by people across the spectrum, so a left-right line is only a rough guide.
Progressivism vs liberalism?
Liberalism stresses individual liberty and limited government. Progressivism shares the liberty goal but calls for more active government to regulate business and expand rights, and is often linked to social liberalism.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Progressivism?
It compares your scores on the economy, government, diplomacy and society axes with the stored values of each ideology. The closest set of four values is chosen, and your society score counts heavily because it is extreme here.