“We are in a period of clamor, of bewilderment, of an almost tremulous unrest. We
are hastily revising all our social conceptions. We are hastily testing all our political
ideals.”
Weyl’s description reflected the widespread popular expectation for change. Reform was “in the air” almost every where, and many different individuals and groups joined the crusade, often with quite different expectations. The variety of competing organizations seeking to reform politics could, and did, produce nearly as much clamor and bewilderment as Weyl described.
At the dawn of the new century, however, few Americans could have anticipated the extent of change the extent of change that lay just ahead. Most probably expected a continuation of nineteenth century political patterns, which dominated politics and government’s roles in the economy was limited largely to a stimulating economic development through the tariff and land policies. At the same time, however, many Americans also believed that something should be done to curb the power of the new industrial corporations and to correct the problems of the cities, and some Americans came to identify traditional political practices as a major constraint in reform.
Progressivism took shape through many choices by voters and political leaders. Most decisions were specific to a particular election or legislative proposal, but a more basic choice loomed behind many of them. Time after time, Americans chose a greater role for government. Often there was such a widespread agreement on the need for government intervention that the only choices were about the form intervention would take. As they gave government more power, Americans also sought to make it more responsive to ordinary citizens. Constrained by nineteenth century patterns of political decision making, Americans put stricter limits on political parties and introduced ways for people to participate more directly in politics, such as the direct primary and the initiative and referendum. The constraints imposed by traditional values of private property and individualism proved more hardy. Although progressives imposed restrictions on the rights of private property, few Americans responded to calls by socialists to eliminate it. Although some reformers proposed to limit individual liberties in the name of morality, a more lasting outcome proved to be the breakdown of separate spheres for men and women in politics. The outcome of the political changes of the Progressive era, following in the heels of the political realignment of the 1890’s, was a revamped pattern of politics, significantly different from that of the nineteenth century. The long-term changes in the structure and function of government wrought during these decades fundamentally altered American politics and government in the twentieth century. The Progressive era gave birth to many aspects of modern American politics.