Is American Progressivism left wing or right wing?

On economic organisation American Progressivism scores +01 on a scale from −10 (common ownership) to +10 (private property and markets). On social and cultural order it scores −01. A single left–right figure combines these and four further measurements that move independently, which is why the atlas reports six.

Is American Progressivism authoritarian?

On the organisation of power, which measures whether authority is dispersed among institutions that can stop each other or concentrated in a single centre, American Progressivism scores +01. Referendum, recall, direct primaries, independent regulatory commissions, civil service reform.

Atlas / Organisations / American Progressivism

American Progressivism

1890–1920 · United States · Liberal · Movement · coding confidence medium

+01ECmarket

−01CUpluralist

+01AUmonist

+04SCcentral

+03IDascriptive

−06CHlawful

Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →

Core principles

Scientific administration, trust-busting, direct democracy devices, and confidence that experts can correct market failure.

Economic model

Antitrust enforcement, income tax, regulation of food, drugs, hours and child labour.

Organisation of powers

Referendum, recall, direct primaries, independent regulatory commissions, civil service reform.

Reading note

Coding it demands honesty: the same movement produced consumer protection and eugenics statutes.

Check a claim about American Progressivism. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.

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The evidence for every score

All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.

EC · Economic organisation · scored +01

Coded +1: trust-busting and regulation within a market economy.

Documented act or statuteThe Sherman and Clayton Acts and the Federal Trade Commission were the movement's instruments.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored −01

Coded −1: consumer protection and eugenic statutes from the same movement.

Documented act or statutePure Food and Drug Act 1906; compulsory sterilisation laws in over thirty states, upheld in Buck v Bell 1927.

AU · Organisation of power · scored +01

Coded +1: independent regulatory commissions and direct democracy devices together.

Documented act or statuteInitiative, referendum, recall and direct election of senators were all progressive causes.

SC · Scale of decision · scored +04

Coded +4: federal regulatory authority expanded substantially.

Documented act or statuteThe Sixteenth Amendment established the federal income tax in 1913.

ID · Rule of membership · scored +03

Coded +3: reform coexisting with immigration restriction and segregation.

Documented act or statuteThe 1924 Immigration Act imposed national origin quotas; federal offices were resegregated after 1913.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −06

Coded −6: constitutional amendment and legislation.

Documented act or statuteFour constitutional amendments were ratified between 1913 and 1920.

Nearest organisations by measured distance

Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.

Countries

United States

Cite this page

Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.

McGrath, K. (2026). American Progressivism. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/usprog/ (accessed 2026-08-01).

Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.