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In US politics, '''progressive''' is sometimes used as a synonym for "[[liberal]]", used to evade the bad connotation of the latter term. 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" is thus practically meaningless.  

In US politics, '''progressive''' is sometimes used as a synonym for "[[liberal]]", used to evade the bad connotation of the latter term. 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" is thus practically meaningless.

Liberals use the term to describe themselves and their policies in contrast to "regressive" policies of their opponents. For example, they'll 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]]).  

Liberals use the term to describe themselves and their policies in contrast to "regressive" policies of their opponents. For example, they'll 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]]).

The term progressive is a new term that most [[politician|politicians]] who considered themselves to be [[liberal]] have given themselves.  The term came about shortly before the [[2006 elections]].  It was implemented to help distance politicians, mainly [[Democrats]], for the negative history associated with various members of the party at that time.  It was also meant to create a belief that [[conservatives]] were not able to think of a progressive future for the [[United States]].

The term progressive was recently revived by [[politician|politicians]] who considered themselves to be [[liberal]].  This revival occurred shortly before the [[2006 elections]].  It was implemented to help distance politicians, mainly [[Democrats]], for the negative history associated with various members of the party at that time.  It was also meant to create a belief that [[conservatives]] were not able to think of a progressive future for the [[United States]].  The most famous historical usage of the term was in the 1890s to 1920s, sometimes called the [[Progressive Era]].  During the Progressive Era, politicians of both parties and various ideologies adopted the term, notably [[Theodore Roosevelt]], a Republican who founded the [[Progressive Party]] (also known as the Bull Moose Party) and [[Woodrow Wilson]].

While the term has been popular among the [[media]], most of the population still refers to the two major philosophies as [[conservative]] and liberal.  The majority opinion of this event is because the current population has a set history with these two titles.  Also its easier to visualize the contrasts between conservative and liberal instead of conservative and progressive.

While the term has been popular among the [[media]], most of the population still refers to the two major philosophies as [[conservative]] and liberal.  This is likely because these two titles are familiar to the current population and better recognized.  Because of this familiarity it is easier to visualize the contrasts between conservative and liberal than the contrasts between conservative and progressive.

A useful distinction to keep in mind is this:  "progressives want bigger and supposedly better government; conservatives want less government."

A useful distinction to keep in mind is this:  "progressives want bigger and supposedly better government; conservatives want less government."

[[category:political Ideologies]]

[[category:political Ideologies]]