ABSTRACT
The term "progressive movement" has been so widely used, so much discussed, and so differently interpreted that any exposition of its meaning and principles, to be adequate, must be prefaced by careful definition. To some—comparatively few—the progressive movement stands for the attempt of one man, disappointed in his efforts to control his political party, to found another and return himself to power. Whatever difference of opinion may exist concerning the meaning of the progressive movement, every thinking man and woman must be convinced that the nation to-day is passing through a severe political crisis. To understand the origin and development of the progressive movement, it is necessary to consider briefly the circumstances surrounding the formation of the federal constitution in 1787. The men who framed that constitution had to decide two questions: first, how many and what functions government, as opposed to the individual, should be allowed to exercise; and, secondly, what power should control the exercise of these functions.
