Key Groups of the Progressive Movement

Key Groups of the Progressive Movement

After reading the articles provided by authors, Shelton Stromquist and Maureen A. Flanagan it is my opinion that both authors make valid cases regarding influential groups of the Progressive Era. 

        As Flanagan puts forth in her article, “Gender and Urban Political Reform,” the men and women belonging to localized city clubs initiated reform on the municipal level that had influence beyond that of local the cities they operated within.  Although, men and women had opposing agendas regarding political reform, they each nonetheless brought positive standards and change that created a new structure and responsibility to their municipality. 

        It largely ignored that women were concerned with politics.  Rather, it has been deemed that these women of civic clubs were more interested in social, not political causes and reform.  These women’s clubs such as the Women’s City Club were largely concerned with how power in the civil society is ordered.  The clubs aim was to bring order to a municipal government that was weak and decentralized.  The civic clubs of men and women respectfully, saw the need to organize themselves to act for the betterment of their communities without waiting for the federal government to step in, in matters of public education, waste and refuse disposal and sanitation among other concerns. 

        The women’s clubs of Chicago for instance, favored municipal control of utilities and waste management.  Their male counterparts did not share the same opinion, but the women of the city club responded to the men by proving there to be profit to be gained by municipal ownership.

        It was because of the agendas of the women’s club for instance, that children were required to remain in school to the age of fourteen, as well as to receive guidance counseling to help these young adults carve a path in way of a career. In the end, the men and women of the upper-middle class who largely belonged to these civic clubs were integral to the progressive era.  It was these men and women who acted on a local level to bring up the living standards of men, women and children, which in and of itself was an element of the progressive movement.

Now, in the article, “The Crucible of Class,” by Shelton Stromquist, the reader is introduced to the thesis that unions had a great deal of influence on reform in the progressive era.  I certainly believe this to be a fact.  To this day, unions are a strong source of influence on policy.   Shelton wrote that, “unions brought unity to the movement. The working class, although not of the upper-middle class as the men and women of the city groups, created unions that gave them a foothold to make a change where change was needed.  By organizing themselves into unions, these laborers had power to demand attention and change.  Worker’s strikes, for instance had an impact on local politics and party alignments.  Through mass organization, the working class commanded the attention of local politicos who desired their support and thus, paid attention to their desires. 

It is my belief that these two diverging groups, although not of the same social class in tandem made a crucial impact on the implementation of the progressive movement and the ideology of a direct democracy. One, did spur the other to make a change first on the local level, that bled through to the national level.