Progressive

Progressives have been at the forefront of every major expansion of civil rights in American history: abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, desegregation, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, disability rights (ADA), and marriage equality. This consistent commitment to broadening the circle of who receives full citizenship and legal protection defines the progressive movement's historical contribution, even as critics argue that some recent progressive demands go beyond rights toward mandated outcomes.

From the Progressive Era's fight against child labor and unsafe working conditions through the New Deal's establishment of the minimum wage and right to organize, to contemporary battles for a $15 minimum wage and gig worker protections, progressives have consistently championed workers' interests against corporate power. This advocacy produced the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety regulations, and unemployment insurance -- protections that are now taken for granted across the political spectrum.

Progressives have led the environmental movement from its inception. The creation of national parks, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and contemporary climate change legislation have all been driven primarily by progressive advocacy. Progressives argue that environmental protection is both a moral imperative and an economic necessity, as the costs of pollution and climate change fall disproportionately on the poor and on communities of color.

Progressives created and have consistently defended the social safety net: Social Security (1935), Medicare and Medicaid (1965), food stamps (1964), the Children's Health Insurance Program (1997), and the Affordable Care Act (2010). While conservatives and libertarians have proposed reforms or cuts to these programs, progressives view them as essential protections that prevent vulnerable people from falling through the cracks and as investments in human potential that strengthen the economy.

Progressives have consistently advocated for reducing the influence of wealthy donors and corporations in politics. From the Tillman Act of 1907 to the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 to opposition to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision in 2010, progressives argue that concentrated wealth distorts democratic governance and that elections should be decided by voters, not dollars. This position puts them at odds with libertarians and conservatives who view campaign spending as protected speech.