At a glance
Progressivism favors reform aimed at reducing injustice and improving social conditions, rather than treating inherited arrangements as sufficient justification for existing inequalities.
Core principles
- Social improvement; reform; equal opportunity; scrutiny of entrenched privilege; responsive institutions; willingness to revise policy in light of evidence.
Origins & development
Modern progressive movements developed through struggles over industrial society, democracy and social reform. The term has different histories and meanings across countries.
Economic outlook
Many favor regulation, social investment and redistribution within a mixed economy. Others support deeper changes to ownership; progressivism is not necessarily socialism.
Society & government
Contemporary forms often support expanded rights and democratic inclusion. Earlier reform movements sometimes combined progress rhetoric with coercive or discriminatory policies.
Variations & related traditions
Social progressivism emphasizes cultural equality; economic progressivism emphasizes material distribution. Progressive conservatism advocates reform while retaining a conservative institutional outlook.
Debates & criticisms
Debates concern which changes count as progress, state capacity and unintended consequences. A commitment to reform does not resolve every dispute over technology or foreign intervention.