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In US politics, '''progressive''' is sometimes used as a more specific word for "[[liberal]]", used to show the specific area that they want to focus on. Progressive policies, in [[political science]], are those which make [[progress]] towards goals seen as benefiting society. Since all politicians claim that their ideas and policies are meant to benefit the public, calling a policy "progressive" may be thought of as meaningless.

In US politics, '''progressive''' is sometimes used as a more specific word for "[[liberal]]", which originally, they used the word "[[liberal]] as a cover when the word ''progressive'' became unpopular, nearly 100 years ago.  Today, it is used to show the specific area that they want to focus on. Progressive policies, in [[political science]], are those which make [[progress]] towards goals seen by progressives as benefiting society. Since all politicians claim that their ideas and policies are meant to benefit the public, calling a policy "progressive" may be thought of as meaningless.

They often use the term to describe themselves and their policies in contrast to "regressive" policies of their opponents. For example, progressives will ask rhetorically, "Do you want to go back to the 1950s?" implying that women were oppressed by being forced to be [[housewife|housewives]] and men were oppressed by being falsely accused of favoring Communism (see [[McCarthyism]]).

They often use the term to describe themselves and their policies in contrast to "regressive" policies of their opponents. For example, progressives will ask rhetorically, "Do you want to go back to the 1950s?" implying that women were oppressed by being forced to be [[housewife|housewives]] and men were oppressed by being falsely accused of favoring Communism (see [[McCarthyism]]).