The progressive movement in the United States refers to a broad based transformational faction that promoted the ideologies of a rational government action while handling political, economic, and cultural aspects in a bid to improve the society. From the outset, it is important to note that the leaders of the progressive era came from various backgrounds, from social activists to politicians, philosophers to business owners, and reporters to preachers. Some of the well-known progressive thinkers include Woodrow Wilson on the democratic side and Frank Johnson Goodnow.
Woodrow Wilson’s progressive views were that the role of government is to fulfill the will of the people. His main argument focused on accountability in governance, in particular the aspect of separation of powers, which he believed was an impediment to a truly democratic government. Wilson believed that in order to ensure that the government was more accountable to the public opinion, elections should be separate from the administration of government that would be managed by non-partisan experts. He believed that the fact that the Presidency of the United States is the best embodiment of the will of the people given that the U.S. President is the only person who receives his mandate through a national vote. This shows that whereas the founding fathers were cautious about direct democracy holding that its focus was on the basis of whimsical passions of the people to the detriment of reason, Wilson and other progressive thinkers embraced the aspect of direct democracy. The progressive thinkers believed that the aspect of separation of powers in government as established by the founding fathers was an infringement to an efficient and responsible government. As such, Wilson believed that government should be free from the restrictions brought about by institutional checks in order to achieve efficiency and a regime that is truly receptive to the will of the people. Ultimately, Wilson based his arguments on the idea that every human being has inherent rights that are not a grant from the government hence individuals determine their destiny through the business of politics, namely elections, and that a community of men are supreme to the men in their individual capacity. In this regard, Wilson shows that the limitations that the founding fathers created on the government through elements such as t the separation of powers are in fact an interference with the public authority.
Accordingly, Frank Johnson Goodnow considered the role of government to be upholding the natural rights of the people by ensuring the enjoyment of freedom from arbitrary autocratic action (Goodnow 15). Goodnow’s perception that natural rights exist separately from the law is indication that government has a higher obligation of safeguarding the interest of the public besides upholding the rule of law. His arguments in support of his view regarding the role of government are based on the thinking that every individual is born with certain rights that the government is bound to observe, notwithstanding the existing legal enactments. Goodnow tries to bring out the role of government by evaluating the functions of the three arms of government, namely the legislature, the executive, and the Judiciary. In this regard, Goodnow creates the distinction between politics and policies as well as principles and operations. Through his conception of liberty, Goodnow is able to demonstrate the significance of the United States government and the difference between political officials and the civil administrators by focusing on the existing partnership arising from elected and appointed leaders.
Ultimately, the progressives rejected the “natural rights” foundation of the U.S. Constitution because the founding fathers purported to portray all rights as emanating from the Constitution. In particular, the progressives rejected the claims by the Founding Fathers that all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights. They noted that the foregoing claims are naïve and something that cannot be traced in history. According to the progressives, freedom is not a ready-made progression but something to be achieved through good governance.
Work Cited
Goodnow, Frank Johnson. The American Conception of Liberty and Government. Standard
Printing Company, 1916.
Wilson, Woodrow. “Socialism and Democracy” in The U.S. Constitution: A Reader by Hillsdale
