The Rising Tide of Progressivism
A look at the historic shift toward primary elections as a means to break the grip of corporate interests in the U.S. Senate.
The story, cleaned up
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The people are gaining on the United States Senate. The majority is still representative of the dollar—the big corporate interests, the railroads, and the banks. But the minority—those who represent your interests and mine—is growing. Primary elections are doing wonders. There are now as many as 24 senators who can be called 'progressives' out of 92. More important is the rapidity with which reactionaries are being retired. In states from Washington to Kansas and Kentucky, the retirement of a reactionary senator has been due to the adoption of the primary, either voluntary or set up by state enactment. The idea is spreading, and Senator Hoar's prophecy that the people's will is sure to be carried into effect through or over senates is finally giving promise of being fulfilled.
“Whether through senates or over senates, through courts or over courts, through presidents or over presidents, through constitutions or over constitutions, the irresistible current will make its way.”
This reflects the early 20th-century populist fight to move from party-boss-controlled conventions to the direct primary system. It highlights a perennial American struggle: how to reduce the influence of 'big money' in legislative bodies.
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