ABSTRACT
The politics of reform has been associated with the politics of liberalism. This is particularly true of twentieth-century liberalism. Indeed, the twentieth century was born in an era of reform—the Progressive era. It was the liberals of that era who pushed for reform and established equality and social justice as national goals. American law and practice place economic and social power preponderantly in the hands of one class. Morris Hillquit, socialist, labor activist, and an original member of the Union, argued that "it is not the function of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to meddle in internal problems and policies of organized labor". The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the legality of the National Labor Relations Act's (NLRA's) regulation of collective bargaining was hailed as having a far-reaching effect on civil rights. In the 1960s the ACLU spent more time writing policies on, and defending the rights of, minorities than any other segment of the population.
