the progressive intellectual tradition in america

8/9/2019 The Progressive Intellectual Tradition in America

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The Progressive IntellectualTradition in AmericaPart One o the Progressive Tradition Series

John Halpin and Conor P. Williams April 2010


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The Progressive IntellectualTradition in AmericaPart One o the Progressive Tradition Series

John Halpin and Conor P. Williams April 2010


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Contents 1 Introduction

4 The rise of progressivism

15 Conclusion

17 Endnotes


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Wih he rise o he conemporary progressive movemen and he elecion o Presiden Barack

Obama in 2008, here is exensive public ineres in beter undersanding he origins, values, and

inellecual srands o progressivism. Who were he original progressive hinkers and aciviss?

Where did heir ideas come om and wha moivaed heir belies and acions? Wha were heir

main goals or sociey and governmen? How did heir ideas inuence or diverge om alernaive

social docrines? How do heir ideas and belies relae o conemporary progressivism?

Te new Progressive radiion Series om he Cener or American Progress races he develop-

men o progressivism as a social and poliical radiion sreching om he lae 19h cenury

reorm eors o he curren day. Te series is designed primarily or educaional and leadership

developmen purposes o help sudens and aciviss beter undersand he oundaions o pro-

gressive hough and is relaionship o poliics and social movemens. Alhough he Progressive

Sudies Program has is own views abou he relaive meri o he various values, ideas, and

acors discussed wihin he progressive radiion, he essays included in he series are descripive

and analyical raher han opinion-based. We envision he essays serving as primers or exploring

progressivism and liberalism in more deph hrough core exsand in conras o he conserva-

ive inellecual radiion and canon. We hope ha hese papers will promoe ongoing discourse

abou he proper role o he sae and individual in sociey, he relaionship beween empirical

evidence and policymaking , and how progressives oday migh approach specifc issues involv-ing he economy, healh care, energy-climae change, educaion, fnancial regulaion, social and

culural aairs, and inernaional relaions and naional securiy.

Par One examines he philosophical and heoreical developmen o progressivism as

a response o he rise o indusrial capialism in he lae 19h and early 20h cenuries.


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1 ct a P |T P itt Tt a

Introduction

What is progressivism?

Progressivism a is core is grounded in he idea oprogressmoving beyond he saus

quo o more equal and jus social condiions consisen wih original American demo-

craic principles such as reedom, equaliy, and he common good. Progressivism as an

inellecual movemen emerged beween 1890 and 1920 as a response o he muliude o

problems associaed wih he indusrializaion o he U.S. economyrequen economic

depressions, poliical corrupion, rising povery, low wages, poor working condiions, en-

emen living, child labor, lack o collecive bargaining power, unsae consumer producs,

and he misuse o naural resources.

Te original Progressive Era is known primarily or wo major developmens in

American poliics:

One, political reformscraed o break up he power o privileged ineress, such as

expanded surage, direc primaries, direc elecion o senaors, and he iniiaive and

reerendum process

wo, economic reforms srucured o counerbalance he excessive power o business ando gh inequaliy measures such as he graduaed income and inheriance axes, he righ

o organize and oher labor proecions, unemploymen insurance, workers compensaion,

old age and disabiliy provisions, ood and drug saey laws, and conservaion measures

As a philosophical radiion, progressivism in is mos complee orm developed as a

new liberalism or a new cenuryupdaing he American liberal radiion rom is

Jeersonian, small-governmen, republican roos bes suied or he agrarian economy o

he naions ounding era o a more democraic and modern liberalism capable o checking

rising corporae power. Te original progressives argued ha changes in he economys

organizaion required a more complee undersanding o human reedom, equaliy, and

opporuniy ha Jeerson championed so persuasively. Progressives believed ha ormallegal reedom alonehe negaive proecions agains governmen inrusions on per-

sonal liberywere no enough o provide he eecive reedom necessary or ciizens o

ulll heir human poenial in an age o rising inequaliy, palry wages, and labor abuses.

Changed condiions demanded a changed deense o human libery.


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Wriing a he heigh o he New Deal reorm era, John Dewey explained he progressive

view o libery as a coninuaion o hisoric movemens or human liberaion:

Libery in he concree signies release rom he impac o paricular oppressive orces;

emancipaion rom somehing once aken as a normal par o human lie bu now

experienced as bondage. A one ime, libery signied liberaion rom chatel slavery;

a anoher ime, release o a class rom serdom. During he lae seveneenh and earlyeigheenh cenuries i mean liberaion rom despoic dynasic rule. A cenury laer

i mean release o indusrialiss rom inheried legal cusoms ha hampered he rise

o new orces o producion. oday i signies liberaion rom maerial insecuriy and

rom he coercions and repressions ha preven muliudes rom he paricipaion in

he vas culural resources ha are a hand.1

Progressives argued ha rigid adherence o pas versions o limied governmen had o

be discarded in order o promoe genuine libery and opporuniy or people a a ime o

concenraed economic power. Progressives challenged excessive individualism in social

hough and poliics, promoed an alernaive o laissez-aire economics, and replaced

consiuional ormalism wih a more responsive legal order ha expanded American

democracy and superseded he economic saus quo wih a sronger naional ramework o

regulaions and social reorms.

Progressives sough above all o give real meaning o he promise o he Preamble o he

U.S. ConsiuionWe he people working ogeher o build a more perec union, pro-

moe he general welare, and expand prosperiy o all ciizens. Drawing on he American

naionalis radiion o Alexander Hamilon and Abraham Lincoln, progressives posied

ha sronger governmen acion was necessary o advance he common good, regulae busi-

ness ineress, promoe naional economic growh, proec workers and amilies displaced

by modern capialism, and promoe rue economic and social opporuniy or all people.

In he amous ormulaion o progressive hough oen associaed wih he progressive

heoris Herber Croly, his mean using Hamilonian means (naional acion) o achieve

Jeersonian ends (libery, equaliy, and opporuniy). Progressives overall goal was o

replace a rigid economic philosophyone ha had morphed rom is egaliarian roos

ino a legalisic deense o economic power and privilegewih a more democraic polii-

cal order ha allowed people o ourish individually wihin a larger naional communiy.

Progressivism has always been par o a broader global movemen o build a more humane,

jus, and economically sable inernaional communiy based on ull opporuniy and sel-

deerminaion or all ciizens. Progressives on boh sides o he Alanic learned rom oneanoher in heir atemps o build more responsive and democraic governmens. Bu as a

disincly American response o he naions economic condiions and is poliical radi-

ion, progressivism seered a middle way beween he radical ideas o socialism prevalen

in some pars o Europe and he unbending hands-o approach o conservaives ascendan

in he Unied Saes.


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In erms o is poliical values, progressivism hroughou he years sressed a range o ideals

ha remain imporan oday:

Freedom, in is ulles sense, including negaive reedom rom undue coercion by

governmen or sociey and he eecive reedom o every person o lead a ullling and

economically secure lie

The common good,broadly meaning a commimen in governmen and sociey o plac-

ing public needs and he concerns o he leas well-o above narrow sel-ineres or he

demands o he privileged

Pragmatism, boh in is philosophical orm o evaluaing ideas based on heir real world

consequences raher han absrac ideals, and in more pracical erms as an approach o

problem solving grounded in science, empirical evidence, and policy experimenaion

Equality, as rs pu orh by Jeerson in he Declaraion o Independence and updaed

in he Universal Declaraion o Human Righs, All human beings are born ree and

equal in digniy and righs. Tey are endowed wih reason and conscience and should

ac owards one anoher in a spiri o broherhood.

Social justice, he proper arrangemen o law, sociey, and he economy o ensure ha

all people have he ormal and inormal capaciy o shape heir own lives and realize

heir dreams

Democracy, he ull paricipaion o ciizens in he major decisions and debaes ha

aec heir lives

Cooperation and interdependence, paricularly as hese ideas relae o global aairs, anoverall humaniarian vision, and he imporance o shared social and economic knowledge

Tis paper explores hese progressive values and radiions in more deail by looking a he

hisorical conex ha gave rise o progressivism, he conservaive radiions i challenged,

and is afrmaive values, ideas, and goals.


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The rise of progressivism

Responding to industrial capitalism, constitutional formalism, andphilosophical individualism

Te inellecual developmen o American progressivism has is roos in he difcul

ransiion rom an agrarian o an indusrial economy in he 19h and 20h cenuries.

Te Unied Saes grew and changed a an impossible pace beween he Civil War and

World War II. Fundamenal economic and poliical shis helped o drive correspond-

ing changes in American philosophical and poliical hough. A naion nearly orn apar

by compeing visions o is undamenal ideniy became a naion unied in deense o

reedom across he globe.

Progressivism emerged as a necessary response o he shiing naure o American lie, as

hisorian Waler Nugen describes in his recen book on he era:

Americans increasingly gained he sense, as he nineeenh cenury lumbered

hrough is nal years, ha heir sociey was changingsomeimes or he beter,

bu in imporan ways, or he worse. Undoubedly beter were he prosperiy ha

marked he 1880s, he muliplicaion o miles o railroad racks ha promoed and

enabled economic developmen, he rs elecried ciy srees and public places,and he rs skyscrapers. On he oher hand, undoubedly worse were he working

condiions in acories and mines, he monopolisic conrol ha hose very railroads

placed on millions o armers, and above all he increasingly visible dispariies in

rewards beween he mos orunae members o sociey and he general mass o

people. Te rich were geting richerar richerhan mos people. Up o a poin

ha seemed reasonable and jusiable, bu beyond ha poin, i el unair and

unjus. Wha, i anyhing, could be done?2

Te various inellecual srands o progressivism were rooed in he naions atemp o

respond o he opporuniy and srain o such widespread changes. Progressive criiques

o indusrial capialism, consiuional ormalism, and philosophical individualism ormedhe backdrop o an alernaive moral and poliical sysem ha dramaically changed and

improved American lie during his period.3 Te response o hese challenges ormed he

core o he progressive inellecual radiion rom is incepion. Tese challenges reiner-

preed he American radiion in a variey o powerul ways and helped o pave a pah o a

more vibran democraic poliy.


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Challenge one: Industrial capitalism

Progressivism developed alongside and in response o grea advances in scienic and

echnological knowledge in he 1800s.4 Pos-Civil War America was convering rom a

naion o small arms o a naion wih signican urban indusrial ceners. Scienic prog-

ress led o urher innovaion in indusrial echnology as he ciies grew. Te American

economy became a signican source o nished goods insead o exporing only rawgoods and naural resources. Tis boom in boh he scope and diversiy o American pro-

ducion, along wih major miliary mobilizaions, brough he Unied Saes o he global

economic and poliical oreron.

Many individuals le heir rural homes and moved o he growing urban ceners,

leaving behind he social neworks ha had long susained American communiy lie.

Unorunaely, he economic opporuniies ha drew individuals o he ciies were oen

buil upon consolidaion o corporae inuence and growing inequaliies ha also chal-

lenged he sabiliy o radiional social norms. Te breakdown o hese srong communi-

ies and radiions le many individuals isolaed and vulnerablesocially, economically,

and poliically.

Monopolizaion o key indusries like seel, exiles, and he railroads hreaened laborers

and consumers alike. Hisorian Chrisopher Lasch wries, Te energies released by he

Civil War proved almos wholly commercial and rapacioushe old Yankee shrewdness

wihou is Purian scruples or even he rusic simpliciy ha once served as a parial

check on he appeie o wealh.5 Ten, as now, corporae economic ineress jusied

heir acions by wrapping hemselves in he heories o naural righs, he Consiuion,

and American individualism ha had dened an early par o American sociey.

Financiers, indusrialiss, conservaive poliicians, and juriss claimed or corporaions

he same proecion o accumulaed wealh, propery, and conracs ha individualsreceived under he Bill o Righs.

Competing voices

So-called Social Darwiniss looked a he new economic condiions as simply an exen-

sion o he biological compeiion or survival. Herber Spencers Social Saics inspired

hese hinkers o apply biological principles o human economic relaions. In Wha he

Social Classes Owe o Each Oher, William Graham Sumner oulined he enes o he

Social Darwinis approach or American audiences, arguing ha naural concenraion o

wealh is desirable and ha governmen economic inervenion is dangerous.

Using language suggesive o Ayn Rands laer objecivism, Sumner ook a hard line

regarding wealh accumulaion, arguing ha individual members o a communiy ough

o pursue heir own sel-ineres wihou inererence rom ohersparicularly public


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insiuions. Individuals should never be asked o give o hose who hey do no choose,

insead orming ies wihou avor or obligaion, and [cooperaing] wihou cringing or

inrigue. Sumner claimed ha noble social reormers robbed hose who had success-

ully won heir wealh and perpeuaed weakness and dependency on he par o he poor.6

Social Darwiniss believed ha robus economic growh and he srengh o American

sociey depended upon preserving he markes compeiive sphere despie any sysemaic

cruelies his aciviy migh produce.

More uopian hinkers on he opposie end o he ideological specrum enhusiasically,

and somewha naively, seized upon new scienic knowledge as proo ha humans could

build a world devoid o pain and suering. Edward Bellamys widely read novel,Looking

Backwards, was archeypal o newound American aih in a perecible uure.7 Bellamy

depiced a world where he problems o scarciy and resource disribuion had been

compleely solved by echnological and scienic means. A he 20h cenurys ouse,

machines seemed o be removing oil and rouble rom he leas pleasan pars o human

exisencewho would claim o know heir l imis?

Similarly expansive in his expecaions o he new era, pragmais philosopher Charles

Saunders Peirce wondered i scienic inquiry were o go on or a million, or a billion, or

any number o years you please, how is i possible o say ha here is any quesion wha

migh no ulimaely be solved?8 New managemen heoriss such as Frederick Winslow

aylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreh sough o design beter and more efcien acories,

workows, and even kichens.9 Tere seemed o be no limi o he benes o applying

science o human problems or hese and many oher echnological uopians. American

ingenuiy migh solve any problem wih enough ime and energy.

Sill ohers were less sanguine abou he eecs ha ongoing indusrializaion o he

American economy would have on longsanding elemens o American lie. Conservaivepopulis inellecuals in he Souhern Agrarian radiion claimed ha a bes, indusrial-

izaion was irrelevan o human moral difculies, and a wors, exacerbaed hem.10 Tey

argued ha mos American poliical problems were moral, while he scienic mehod

could yield only echnical soluions.

Even moderae liberals such as Reinhold Niebuhr oered cauions laer in he 20h cen-

ury o overweening aih in human science. Niebuhr, a miniser, argued ha hose who

hoped or worldly or maerial salvaion by indusrial means ignored he depraviy and

injusice such a process brough ino he world, wriing: Nohing ha is worh doing can

be achieved in our lieime; hereore we mus be saved by hope. Nohing which is rue or

beauiul or good makes complee sense in any immediae conex o hisory; hereore wemus be saved by aih.11


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indusrializaion had improved he overall qualiy o lie in a number o ways, is ailures

were becoming more apparen o Americans. Progressives demanded ha Americans con-

sider wheher he consequences o heir economic and poliical insiuions were consis-

en wih American noions o equal reamen and jusice.

Te mos exended reamen o his line o progressive poliical hough emerged rom

Herber Croly in his inuenial 1909 book, Te Promise o American Lie. Many com-menaors poin o Crolys amous ome when looking or he seminal ex o progressive

hough. Tis is undersandable, i somewha oversaed, given he hisorical and heorei-

cal deph o he book ha is missing in earlier racs. For Croly, he Jeersonian goal o

equal righs or all and special privileges or none was grounded in a myopic view o he

economy and a nave desire o reurn American sociey o imes ha no longer exised.

Crolys alernaive was a progressive version o Hamilonian naionalism wih expanded

powers or he execuive branch o help guide and regulae he economy and provide or

he general welare o hose le behind in he new economy.

Unlike he more populis reormers who waned o resric he size o new business con-

glomeraes in avor o smaller producers and compeiion, Croly acceped he rise o large

corporaions and combinaion o business ineress as a necessary and poenially useul

developmen in he American economy i heir power was me by an equally powerul

naional governmen. Croly was also skepical o large labor unions and waned a srong

sae o keep excessive demands rom workers in check as i counered business and

pursued new policies o resore opporuniy and alleviae social problems. Te noion o

srong naional execuive and more eecive public adminisraion o deal wih he numer-

ous challenges o modern lie arose o ou hese ideas. Many o hese ideas were made real-

iy in he early presidency o Teodore Roosevel and he laer presidencies o Woodrow

Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevel.

Crolys poliical philosophy is oen criicized by hose on he righ or being oo sae

ocused and, by exension, oo collecivis. Croly, however, clearly saes in his less sudied

bu more complee work,Progressive Democracy, ha he goal o his new economic naion-

alism is wholly consisen wih he principles o democracy and is designed o allow human

auonomy o ourish wihin a sronger commimen o common naional purpose, much

as Lincoln had argued.17 Furhermore, Croly explicily rejecs more radical ideas abou he

organizaion o sociey saying, Te recogniion o a necessary inequaliy and injusice in

he operaion o he exising insiuion o privae propery, coupled wih he recogniion

ha he immediae aboliion o privae propery would be boh unjus and impracicable,

consiues he oundaion o any really naional and progressive economic policy.18

Croly accepted the r

o large corporation

combination o busi

interests as a necess

and potentially use

development in the

American economy

their power was me

by an equally power

national governmen

PhoTo: PorTraiT of herberT croly, Public domain


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Challenge two: Constitutional formalism

Progressives poined o hisory and earlier American ehical and poliical commimens o

srenghen heir economic argumens. Tey argued ha poliical insiuions and eco-

nomic policy should be oriened o mach a paricular concepion o democracy buil rom

core American noions o airness, equaliy, and libery. While many conservaives read

he Consiuion as a xed se o principles whose aleraion would ear apar he abrico American democracy, progressives answered ha he Consiuion should be read as a

commimen o he realizaion o democracy.19 Advocaing or a new inerpreaion o

he U.S. Consiuionone more consisen wih he democraic inenions o he early

Americansbecame a major componen o he progressive poliical and economic projecs.

For Dewey and oher progressive hinkers, American democracy was ounded as a

promise o be ullled or a projec o be underaken, raher han a saic se o principles.

Experience and evidence matered o progressives in deermining how bes o ulll con-

siuional promises. Noions o unbending lieralism in inerpreing he Consiuion was

as anahema o progressive inellecuals as i was o Tomas Jeerson himsel in 1816:

Some men look a consiuions wih sancimonious reverence, and deem hem like

he arc o he covenan, oo sacred o be ouched. Tey ascribe o he men o he

preceding age a wisdom more han human, and suppose wha hey did o be beyond

amendmen. I knew ha age well; I belonged o i, and labored wih i. I deserved well

o is counry. I was very like he presen, bu wihou he experience o he presen;

and ory years o experience in governmen is worh a cenury o book reading; and

his hey would say hemselves, were hey o rise rom he dead. I am cerainly no an

advocae or requen and unried changes in laws and consiuions. I hink moder-

ae imperecions had beter be borne wih; because, when once known, we accom-

modae ourselves o hem, and nd pracical means o correcing heir ill eecs. BuI know also, ha laws and insiuions mus go hand in hand wih he progress o he

human mind. As ha becomes more developed, more enlighened, as new discoveries

are made, new ruhs disclosed, and manners and opinions change wih he change o

circumsances, insiuions mus advance also, and keep pace wih he imes. We migh

as well require a man o wear sill he coa which ted him when a boy, as civilized

sociey o remain ever under he regimen o heir barbarous ancesors.20

Herber Croly denounced he saic, conservaive inerpreaion o he Consiuion in

Progressive Democracy as rerograde and insufcien or he modern age: Te paricular

expression o he conservaive spiri o which progressivism nds isel opposed is essen-

ially, and, as i seems, necessarily docrinaire and dogmaic. I is based upon an unquali-ed afrmaion o he necessiy o he radiional consiuional sysem o he poliical

salvaion o American democracy.21

Laws and institution

must go hand in han

with the progress o

human mind.

- Thomas Jeerson, 1816

PhoTo: PorTraiT of Thomas jefferson, gilberT sTuagallery of arT, WashingTon


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For progressives, he Consiuion derived is value no solely rom is original language

odious elemens like he hree-hs and ugiive slave rade clauses ormalizing racial

prejudice made ha clearbu rom he commimen o achieve more robus orms

o democracy.22 Progressives argued ha hose seeking o uncriically appropriae he

Founding Fahers and he ounding momen as deenders o upper-class prejudice and

classical economics had urned he Declaraion and he Consiuion ino meaningless

jusicaions o he saus quo.

Insead o abandoning he Consiuion alogeheror dismissing i merely as a ool or

eliesmos progressives mainained ha he American radiion conained he maeri-

als or is own correcion and revializaion. In his vein, many progressives including

Addams, Dewey, and Croly drew upon he legacy o Abraham Lincoln, who Dewey

ermed our mos beloved American.23

Tough Lincoln himsel was no a progressive in any sric sense (he erm was no in use

mid-cenury), his broad inuence on American poliics unquesionably inuenced he

rajecory o progressivism. Lincolns greaes conribuion o reinerpreing he American

Consiuion was his claim ha he Unied Saes represens an experimen, ounded

upon wha he called he American poliical religion. In oher words, American poliics

resed upon poliical ideals gleaned rom is culural radiions: W hile ever a sae o eel-

ing, such as his, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail hroughou he naion,

vain will be every eor, and ruiless every atemp, o subver our naional reedom.24

Lincoln believed ha American poliical sabiliy, indeed, he union isel, depended

upon broad naional convicions, no narrow inerpreaions o specic elemens o he

Consiuion. He believed ha o be an American was o appreciae all he good done in

he pas, o remember how i was done and who did i, and how we are hisorically con-

neced wih i [so] we eel more atached he one o he oher, and more rmly bound ohe counry we inhabi.25 For Lincoln, he progressives, and laer leaders like Marin Luher

King Jr., he American ounding was noable or is commimen o egaliarian democracy

as an approach o communiy lie. Tus, poliics was a mater o bringing ormal insiuions

ino line wih shis in American undersandings o libery, equaliy, and jusice. 26 Te ac

ha he proecions in he Bill o Righs are now graned o women, Arican Americans, and

oher minoriies is proo o he power o Lincolns vision. His was a broad poliics o shared

naional ideals, paricularly hose embodied in he Declaraion o Independence.

Jusice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissening opinion in Lochnerv. New York illusraes he

progressive reamen o he Consiuion well . Te case asked he Cour o consider

wheher or no saes could regulae economic behavior, specically he number o hoursworked per day and week. Tough his own credenials were unclear o many progressives,

Jusice Holmes argumen ha he Consiuion is no inended o embody a paricular

economic heory, wheher o paernalism and he organic relaion o he ciizen o he

Sae or o laissez aire exemplied he progressive challenge o consiuional ormalism.

Lincoln believed tha

American political

stability depended

upon broad nationa

convictions, not narr

interpretations o

specifc elements o

Constitution.PhoTo: PorTraiT of abraham lincoln, library of coPresTon buTler


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While his ellow jusices argued ha consiuional proecions o he righ o conrac

and ree pursui o propery prevened saes rom regulaing working condiions, Holmes

claimed ha such general proposiions do no decide concree cases. In simple erms,

Holmes considered how consiuional principles and heir inerpreaion changed over

ime, considering he Consiuion as a living documen.27

Jusice Louis Brandeis, Holmes colleague, is especially eloquen on his poin. Brandeisexplained in his amed essay, Te Living Law, ha he meaning o he American

Consiuion necessarily shied as democracy deepened over ime. Firs pursuing a

governmen o laws and no o men, Americans laer sough a governmen o he people,

by he people, and or he people, and nally pursued democracy and social jusice.

I should be noed, however, ha Brandeis believed his argumen o be well wihin he

American ounding radiion. He considered Alexander Hamilon an aposle o he living

law, since he always considered he law o be a realiy, quick and human, buxom and

jolly, and no a ormula, pinched, si, banded and dusy like a royal mummy o Egyp.28

He argued ha cours could no remain dea and blind o newly arisen social needs

wihou eroding respec or he law and he broader legal sysem as a whole. Jus as

resricive laissez-aire economic ideology was insrumenally useul o pluocras wih

an ineres in exploiing workers, consiuional ormalism allowed cours o [reuse] o

consider he acs o lie in deciding any laws consiuionaliy. Brandeis mainained as

a resul ha no law, writen or unwriten, can be undersood wihou a ull knowledge o

he acs ou o which i arises, and o which i is o be applied. Te meaning o a law is o

be considered in erms o is consequences, no a priori principles or xed inerpreaions

o such principles.

Since progressives are oen misundersood on his poin, a preempive correcion

is necessary. Conservaives someimes charge ha hose who would reinerpre heConsiuion srip i o any xed meaning a all. Brandeis did no sugges ha he

Consiuionsor any lawsleter was irrelevan, only ha is spiri changed wih

is social eecs.29 Brandeis and ohers held ha he Consiuion clearly seeks o orm a

more perec union, esablish Jusice, insure domesic ranquiliy, provide or he com-

mon deence, promoe he general Welare, and secure he Blessings o Libery. Tese

ideals should guide he spiri wih which he res o he documen is inerpreed.30

Tis approach o consiuional law mirrored conemporary developmens in American

poliical philosophy. During his period, poliical hinkers led by John Dewey, Leser Ward,

and ohers engaged in an exhausive reanalysis o he oundaions o American poliics.

Orbiing a various disances around he pragmais school o philosophy and poliicalhough, hese heoriss argued ha American poliics (no only consiuional law) was

conned wihin excessively ormal limis o is own.

[Law is] a reality, qu

and human, buxom

jolly, and not a orm

pinched, sti, bande

and dusty like a roya

mummy o Egypt.

Justice Louis Brandeis

PhoTo: PorTraiT of jusTice louis brandeis, library oPrinTs and PhoTograPhs division


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Challenge three: Philosophical individualism

American pragmaism emerged as he philosophical response o he social and economic

ux o he Civil War and years immediaely aerward. Te subsanial changes in human

lie during his period promped hinkers such as Charles Saunders Peirce, William James,

and John Dewey o reevaluae he worh o ruhs long considered xed and unchange-

able.31 Te legacy o American pragmaism in poliics was o replace he dominan individ-ualis philosophy o laissez-aire conservaism wih a commimen o social and poliical

reorms evaluaed by heir real world consequences raher han absrac principles.

Peirce is generally credied wih ormulaing he rs ormal version o pragmaism. He

suggesed ha he eecs and pracical bearings o an absrac concepion are he

whole o [he] concepion.32 James ormulaed he same idea in somewha more sraigh-

orward erms: Te pragmaic mehod in such cases is o ry o inerpre each noion by

racing is respecive pracical consequences. Wha dierence would i pracically make o

anyone i his noion raher han ha noion were rue? You mus bring ou o each word

is pracical cash value, se i a work wihin he sream o your experience.33

Tis reconsideraion o he meaning o ruh was he mos novel and undamenal elemen

in heir work, bu i ook Dewey o draw ou is poliical implicaions.34 Dewey wroe

canonical works o philosophy, educaional heory, and democraic poliical heory in an

academic career spanning nearly 70 years. InLiberalism and Social Acion, Te Public and

is Problems,Individualism Old and New, andDemocracy and Educaion, he argued ha

American democracy needed o be reed rom classical liberalisms version o naural

individual righs in order o generae rue reedom.

Liberal hinkers since John Locke and Tomas Paine had argued ha he individual was

he mos imporan uni o poliical analysis. Individuals were born naurally ree wih arigh o make use o all o naures accessible resources.35 In such an uncerain sae, each

man evenually agreed o conrac wih oher men o accep some limis o each o heir

reedom in order o secure he goods available o a unied communiy.36 When oulining

hese limis, men sough o ensure ha hey received he maximum o collecive goods

saey and sabiliywhile giving up he minimum degree o individual libery.

Te work o Locke and ohers was o ouline he conours o his exchange, and many

concluded ha men in such a sae would righly insis upon proecion o large spheres

o individual acion rom inererence by communiy insiuions. Men engaging in he

social conrac sough individual righs, and since hey were deended as hose ha all men

would require in order o give up heir naural libery, hese righs were naural. Nauralrighs were rm oundaions or setling poliical dispues because hey derived rom

inheren elemens in mans makeup.37

Bu how solid were hese oundaions when esed in pracice? Dewey argued ha he

Men sought to ensu

that they received thmaximum o collect

goodssaety and

stabilitywhile givi

up the minimum de

o individual liberty.PhoTo: PorTraiT of john locke, naTional PorTraiT glondon: nPg 3846


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consequences o xed naural righs o individuals were incompaible wih any serious

noion o poliical libery. Te meaning o naural righs in pragmaic erms consised o

heir eecs. I he radiional inerpreaion o he righ o amass propery resuled in

suering, exploiaion, and inequaliy, hen his was he real meaning o his principle. I

remained or voers and poliical leaders o consider i hese consequences were in keeping

wih he good o he communiy, bu Dewey was convinced ha hey were no.

While he social conrac radiion sill conained worhwhile insighs and necessary

proecions o individuals, classical liberal individualism was in need o serious renovaion.

Pu simply, Dewey opposed he rigidiy o exising inerpreaions o naural righs, no

he noion ha individual libery should be proeced. I democracy was o be deepened

in Brandeiss sense, i would need o adap o he new limis individuals aced in modern,

indusrialized democracies.

Dewey argued in hisIndividualism Old and New ha exising poliical proecions o he

individual were well ou o sep wih he ransormaions wihin he Unied Saes. While

American individuals a he ounding sough proecion rom governmen inervenion in

heir privae lives, 20h cenury Americans ound heir lives more dangerously deermined

by massive economic and social orces. Dewey wroe, Presen evil consequences are

reaed as i hey were eernally necessary, because hey canno be made consisen wih

he ideals o anoher age. In realiy, a machine age is a challenge o generae new concep-

ions o he ideal and he spiriual.38

Te devaluing o human individualiy was especially damaging o he poor. Modern

economic complexiy rendered i nearly impossible or modern laborers o undersand he

causes o heir predicamen or how hey migh escape i. Tis was, or Dewey, a perjuring

o liberalisms undamenal promise: he liberaion o individuals so ha realizaion o

heir capaciies may be he law o heir lie.39

I naural righs once oered individuals reedom, hey had since become complici in

consraining hem. Once more, progressives argued ha pas ideology could no be blindly

relied upon o solve all presen and uure poliical problems. Te work o modern poliics,

in heir eyes, was o discern wha resources rom he American radiion could be brough

o bear on hese challenges.

In oher words, Deweys atemp o build a renascen liberalism was an atemp o draw

orh a concepion o posiive libery wihin he American radiion. In his amous essay,

wo Conceps o Libery, philosopher Isaiah Berlin argues ha here are wo undamen-

al ways o undersanding libery. Negaive libery is he reedom rom ormal coercion,resrain, or limis. I is closely linked o he classical l iberal school o poliical hough.

Posiive libery is he reedom o pursue and achieve ends. I is oen considered in erms

o human individual ourishing. Individuals are ree insoar as hey are capable o pursu-

ing he ends hey choose. Dewey ook his o be he rue meaning o libery in a modern

democraic sae.40

Present evil

consequences are

treated as i they we

eternally necessary,

because they cannomade consistent wit

the ideals o anothe

age. In reality, a mac

age is a challenge

to generate new

conceptions o the i

and the spiritual.38

John DeweyPhoTo: PorTraiT of john deWey, aP PhoTo


18/23


Progressives undersood ha individual poliical libery could no be divorced rom

economic or social consideraions. Dewey wroe, Assured and inegraed individualiy

is he produc o denie social relaionships and publicly acknowledged uncions.41

Sysemic limiaions o individuals could jus as easily be economic or social, paricularly i

individual libery was considered in erms broader han being le alone. Te absence o

ofcial poliical resrains was no guaranee o individual libery. Progressives held ha he

ormal righ o amass propery mean nohing o a human wihou resources or skills bywhich o obain hem. Dewey argued ha i was he job o public insiuions o butress

individuals agains he aciviy o consolidaed economic ineress. Democracy as an ideal

required ha individual libery be considered in erms o boh human ourishing and

sel-deerminaion.42

Mos progressives appreciaed ha naural righs proecions applied o all individuals.

Tey rejeced, however, he noion ha hese could be as xed or as ormal as usually

presened and denied ha hese naural righs sancioned a paricular economic regime

ha proeced accumulaed wealh and corporae power. Dewey argued ha rue libery

was hisorical, social, and economic in characer: I he early liberals had pu orh heir

special inerpreaion o libery as somehing subjec o hisorical relaiviy hey would

no have rozen i ino a docrine o be applied a all imes under all social circumsances

hey would have recognized ha eecive libery is a uncion o he social condiions

exising a any ime.43

For progressives, hereore, real libery can only be measured in erms o wha individu-

als are capable o successully doing wihin a ramework o guaraneed civil righs and

liberies. Righs wihou capaciy are meaningless, paricularly in a democraic regime

promising a air chance o each o is ciizens. Progressives argued ha he economic and

social hreas o American individual libery required poliical responses. From Presiden

Teodore Roosevels rus busing o Presiden Franklin D. Roosevels New Deal pro-grams, progressives reused o accep ha he presen generaion o economic iniquiies

were irreparable, le alone consisen wih he inen o American democracy rom he

naions incepion orward.


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Conclusion

Toward a more democratic national community

Herber Croly argues inProgressive Democracy ha progressives had a duy o oer a

workable alernaive poliical heory o complemen heir horoughgoing criique o he

conservaive economic and consiuional sysem: I progressivism is o be consrucive

raher han merely resoraive, i mus be prepared o replace he old order wih a new

social bond, which will be no less secure han is predecessor, bu which will serve sill

more eecually as an impulse, an inspiraion and a leaven.44

For Croly, Dewey, and oher progressives, he alernaive o he ailed docrines o conser-

vaism inheried rom he 19h cenury was simplemore democracy and greaer public

conrol over our poliics and economy. Since progressives argued ha public policy ough

o be designed o serve he common good, many enhusiasically applied he scienic

mehod o he sudy o poliics. Invigoraed by recen successes in he naural sciences,

progressives believed ha economic and poliical science could help o improve public

policys eeciveness and accounabiliy. Modern sociology and psychology provided pro-

gressives wih helpul evidence in suppor o poliical change. In many cases, his approach

led o new, comprehensive shis in he approach o longsanding poliical problems. Tis

was paricularly useul or adjudicaing beween compeing ineress in he poliical, eco-nomic, and social spheres, since i provided a way o sripping away rheoric and exploring

he acual consequences o various policy approaches.

Progressivismhe promoion o human auonomy wihin a democraic naional com-

muniyhus provided Americans wih he means and he ideas o shape heir own lives

and desinies in beter ways. I provided hem a viable way o ree hemselves rom he

yranny o excessive corporae power and a corrup poliical class wihou losing he posi-

ive eecs o echnology, indusrializaion, and capialism. I made economic behavior

subjec o public regulaion, insead o neglecing he dominaion o public insiuions by

economic ineress. I paved he way oward he midcenury mixed economy ha lied

living sandards or millions o people, reduced povery and inequaliy, and helped o cre-ae he vas American middle class.


20/23


Tis philosophical commimen o a more democraic naional governmen in pracical

erms mean more direc paricipaion o ciizens in he selecion o heir leaders and he

workings o governmen; more democraic conrol over heir workplaces, homes, neigh-

borhoods, and environmen; more nancial proecions or workers and amilies rom

he vagaries o he economy; and a more unied commimen o he American people o

ackle large-scale naional problems.


21/23


1 John Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 11: 19 35-1937[electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 35-6.

2 Walter Nugent, Progressivism:A Very Short Introduction (New York: OxordUniversity Press, 2010), p. 6.

3 Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2001), xi.

4 Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion: An American history(Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press, 1998).

5 Christopher Lasch, The True and Only Heaven: Progress and its Critics (NewYork: W.W. Norton, 1991), p. 280.

6 William Graham Sumner, What the Social Classes Owe to One Another(NewYork: Harper and Brothers, 1884), p. 23 and 26.

7 Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward From 2000 to 1887(Peterborough,Ontario: Broadview Press, 2003).

8 Charles Saunders Peirce, The Essential Writings. In Edward C. Moore, ed.(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998), p. 156.

9 Lasch, The True and Only Heaven, p. 224; Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Primer oScientifc Management(Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1912).

10 Twelve Southerners, Ill Take My Stand: The South and the agrarian tradition(Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2006).

11 Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony o American History(Chicago: University oChicago Press, 2008), p. 63.

12 Menand, The Metaphysical Club, p. 30814.

13 John Dewey, Individualism Old and New. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 5: 192 9-1930 [electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 104.

14 Louis Brandeis, The Living Law, Cardozo Law Review, available at http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23 (last accessed February

16, 2010).

15 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 84; John Dewey, Education or a

Changing Social Order. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The Later Works o JohnDewey, 19251953, Volume 9: 19331934 [electronic edition] (Carbondale,IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 163: Economic conditions now

are entangled at every point with politics, and economic orces decide political

activity. Nevertheless, the determining economic conditions operate in waysthat are not open and clear to the mass o the citizens. In theory and to a large

degree practically in the minds o the average citizen politics and economics are

kept apart. In spite o the act that every important political issue arises out o

industry, business and nance, we are constantly led to suppose that political

and legal institutions work on independent and separate lines, lines that werelaid down long ago and that are thoroughly democratic.

16 Charles Beard, The Constitution as Economic Document inAn Economic Inter-pretation o the Constitution o the United States (New York: Free Press, 1986).

17 See Sidney Pearson, Introduction, in Herbert Croly, Progressive Democracy(New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1998), p. xlv.

18 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p.113.

19 John Dewey, Freedom and Culture. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The Later Workso John Dewey, 19251953, Volume 13: 19381939 (Carbondale, IL: SouthernIllinois University Press, 2003), p. 1 78. For one example o laissez-aire interpre-

tation o the Constitution, see Justi ce Ruus Wheeler Peckhams majority opinion

in Lochnerv. New York.

20 Thomas Jeferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval, June 12, 1816.

21 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p. 20.

22 Richard Rorty,Achieving Our Country(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998).

23 John Dewey, Education or a New and Better World. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed.,The Later Works o John Dewey, 19251953, Volume 17: 18551953 [elec-tronic edition] (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 476.

24 Abraham Lincoln, The Perpetuation o Our Political Institutions: Address Beorethe Young Mens Lyceum o Springeld, Illinois. In Roy P. Basler, ed., AbrahamLincoln: His Speeches and Writings (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1946), p. 80-2.

25 Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln at Chicago, July 10, 1958. In Paul M. Angle, ed.,

Created Equal? The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates o 1858 (Chicago:University o Chicago Press, 1958), p. 40.

26 For a ascinating analysis o the role o equality in American political lie, see

Alexis de Tocquevilles sections on equality, liber ty, and individualism. Alexis de

Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), p. 5038.The sections on American philosophy (p. 42933) are also relevant to thesequestions.

27 Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissent in Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905), avail-able at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0198_0045_

ZD1.html (last accessed February 16, 2010).

28 Brandeis, The Living Law; Frederick Scott Oliver,Alexander Hamilton: Anessay on American union (New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1921), p. 123.

29 Brandeis, The Living Law.

30 U.S. Constitution, preamble.

31 Louis Menands Pulitzer Prize-winning The Metaphysical Club (cited above)explores pragmatisms genesis in great details, as does Cornell Wests The

American Evasion o Philosophy. Cornell West, The American Evasion oPhilosophy: A genealogy o pragmatism (Madison, WI: Wisconsin UniversityPress, 1989).

32 Charles Saunders Peirce, How to Make Our Ideas Clear and Pragmatism and

Pragmaticism. In Edward C. Moore, ed., The Essential Writings (Amherst, NY:Prometheus Books, 1998), p. 146 and 269.

33 William James, Pragmatism inPragmatism andThe Meaning o Truth (Cam-bridge: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 28 and 312.

34 Cornell West corroborates my claim in The American Evasion o Philosophy(p.6): It is with Dewey that American pragmatism achieves intellectual maturity,

historical scope, and political engagement.

35 Note that most social contract theorists rom Thomas Hobbes to Jean-Jacques

Rousseau to John Rawls accepted that the state o nature was a thought

experiment, not a real situation rom the past. Usually they suggested that it

was an efective way o stripping away modern biases in considering individuals

appropriate political obligations.

36 The use o men instead o humans here is intentional. Until the work o

Mary Wollstonecrat or Judith Sargent Murray, these arguments were largelyconsidered to be about the natural political status o males.

37 Again, the use o gender-biased language here is intentional.

38 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 76.

39 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, p. 41.

40 Isaiah Berlin, Two Concepts o Liberty in The Proper Study o Mankind: AnAnthology o Essays (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1997).

41 Dewey, Individualism Old and New, p. 67.

42 John Dewey, The Public and its Problems. In Jo Ann Boydston, ed., The LaterWorks o John Dewey, 1925-1953, Volume 2: 1925-1927[electronic edition](Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003), p. 328.

43 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, p. 27 [emphasis added].

44 Croly, Progressive Democracy, p. 25.

Endnotes
http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23https://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttps://mail.americanprogress.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=56a1a22e50634105b001d0529706f99f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.law.cornell.edu%2fsupct%2fhtml%2fhistorics%2fUSSC_CR_0198_0045_ZD1.htmlhttp://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23http://www.cardozolawreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:thelivinglaw&catid=19:empathyandjustice&Itemid=23


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About the authors

John Halpin is a Senior Fellow a he Cener or American Progress ocusing on poliical

heory, communicaions, and public opinion analysis. He is he co-direcor and creaor o

he Progressive Sudies Program a CAP, an inerdisciplinary projec researching he inel-

lecual hisory, oundaional principles, and public undersanding o progressivism. Halpin

is also he co-auhor wih John Podesa oTe Power o Progress: How Americas ProgressivesCan (Once Again) Save Our Economy, Our Climae, and Our Counry, a 2008 book abou

he hisory and uure o he progressive movemen.

Conor P. Williams is pursuing a Ph.D. in governmen a Georgeown Universiy, wih a

ocus on hisorical oundaions o liberal rheoric. Aer graduaing rom Bowdoin College

in 2005, he augh rs grade or wo years as a each For America Corps member in

Crown Heighs, Brooklyn.

Acknowledgements

Te auhors would like o hank Megan Slack, Ed Paisley, Lauren Ferguson, Mara Cook,

and Ruy eixeira or heir valuable insighs and assisance in shaping his paper.


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The Center or American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute

dedicated to promoting a strong, just and ree America that ensures opportunity

or all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to

these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies relect these values.

We work to ind progressive and pragmatic solutions to signiicant domestic and

international problems and develop policy proposals that oster a government that

is o the people, by the people, and or the people.

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