We are living through a tumultuous era in the history of our country and the world. Many have taken to comparing this era to other times in our history, some cite the era leading up to the civil war when discussing our divisions and extreme political polarization. Others invoke the Great Depression and the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt when discussing our current President’s ambitious agenda. From my vantage point, in the democracy reform movement, I, as well as many others, see the echoes of the Progressive Era in the first decades of the 20th century.
The Progressive Era followed the Gilded Age, a time when wealthy oligarchs bought and paid for government influence. In response the Progressive reformers began to change the rules of how Americans elected those who represented them. The changes the reformers sought were an effort to make those who represented the citizens in government more accountable. Such reforms included the primary system, in which citizens voted in primaries to nominate candidates for general elections, as opposed to party bosses in the proverbial smoke filled back rooms. Another reform included the direct election of Senators, a process that was previously done by the legislatures of each state. If one wants to truly see a Progressive Era revolutionary reform in electoral politics one need only look to the unicameral legislature of Nebraska, where the representatives are elected in nonpartisan top two primaries and the legislative power structure has been set up in a nonpartisan manner. Unfortunately, even Nebraska’s system has come under strain in our current era of hyper-partisanship.
Like the Progressive Era reformers, modern democracy reform groups strive to be nonpartisan and to create party blind reforms that benefit the citizenry rather than elected representatives. The reform movement advocates for open nonpartisan primaries that utilize an instant runoff or ranked choice vote for the general election. The movement also seeks the creation of nonpartisan and independent commissions to create congressional and state legislative district maps that better represent the will of the people, rather than gerrymandered maps that benefit incumbent partisan lawmakers.
Like the Progressive Era reformers, modern democracy reformers can not afford to fail. We have seen what our current era of hyper-partisanship can yield, we must break the cycle before it breaks our democratic republic. Wisconsin was a hot bed of Progressive reform for the first four decades of the twentieth century, we now have a chance to be a laboratory of democracy once again. The Fair Maps movement and the push for Final Five Voting, a combination of open primaries and instant run-off voting, is gaining steam in our state as we speak. Detractors will say that there is no such thing as nonpartisan, they will say these are reforms meant to benefit one side over the other. To them I would say come and see, come and see our ideological diversity, come and see a truly cross-partisan coalition working for the benefit of all, come and see true patriotism from people who love their country and want to pass the American way of life on to future generations. For this is the final and most important detail when comparing the modern democracy reform movement to the early Progressives. Like the Progressive reformers, modern reformers are throwing open the windows on ideology and embracing neither left nor right, we are embracing the idea of moving forward together in a society more representative and fair to all.
Grew up on a family farm near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Attended college at UW-Baraboo/Sauk County and UW-LaCrosse earning a degree in Archaeology with a minor in History. He resides in Poynette with his wife and works in Middleton.
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