Progressive movement

1. A movement for reform that occurred roughly between 1900 and 1920. Progressives typically held that irresponsible actions by the rich were corrupting both public and private life. They called for measures such as trust busting, the regulation of railroads, provisions for the people to vote on laws themselves through referendum, the election of the Senate by the people rather than by state legislatures, and a graduated income tax (one in which higher tax rates are applied to higher incomes). The Progressives were able to get much of their program passed into law. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were associated with the movement.

Example Sentences

The Progressive movement began to gel, ushering in a new respect for expertise and technocratic skill.

From Salon

But his reputation as a darling of the progressive movement was sullied in 2022 when the New York Times published an expose detailing an alleged history of abusing women — accusations he has denied.

From Los Angeles Times

Eskow: This may be blue-sky thinking, but it occurs to me that the progressive movement can display leadership and vision in forming that front, at a time when those qualities seem to be lacking elsewhere.

From Salon

Hine, then in his early 30s, was part of a growing Progressive movement that sought large-scale social and political reform following the collapse of post-Civil War Reconstruction and the explosion of the grasping Gilded Age.

From Los Angeles Times

Those of us in the progressive movement should all have and read those plans.

From Salon