[8][9] While many ideologies can fall under the banner of progressivism, both the current and historical movement are characterized by a critique of unregulated capitalism, desiring a more active democratic government to take a role in safeguarding human rights, bringing about cultural development, and being a check-and-balance on corporate monopolies.
[16] In the late 19th century, a political view rose in popularity in the Western world that progress was being stifled by vast economic inequality between the rich and the poor, minimally regulated laissez-faire capitalism with out-of-control monopolistic corporations, intense and often violent conflict between capitalists and workers, with a need for measures to address these problems.
In Imperial Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck enacted various progressive social welfare measures out of paternalistic conservative motivations to distance workers from the socialist movement of the time and as humane ways to assist in maintaining the Industrial Revolution.
[23] Early 20th-century progressivism included support for American engagement in World War I and the creation of and participation in the League of Nations,[24][25] compulsory sterilisation in Scandinavia,[26] and eugenics in Great Britain,[27] and the temperance movement.
[30] In the United States, progressivism began as an intellectual rebellion against the political philosophy of Constitutionalism[31] as expressed by John Locke and the Founding Fathers of the American Republic, whereby the authority of government depends on observing limitations on its just powers.
While the term progressivism represents a range of diverse political pressure groups, not always united, progressives rejected social Darwinism, believing that the problems society faced, such as class warfare, greed, poverty, racism and violence, could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace.
[35] In response to World War I, President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points established the concept of national self-determination and criticised imperialist competition and colonial injustices.
With the rise of neoliberalism and challenges to state interventionist policies in the 1970s and 1980s, centre-left progressive movements responded by adopting the Third Way, which emphasised a major role for the market economy.
[39] In the 21st century, progressives continue to favour public policy that they theorise will reduce or lessen the harmful effects of economic inequality as well as systemic discrimination such as institutional racism; to advocate for social safety nets and workers' rights; and to oppose corporate influence on the democratic process.
Therefore, according to the majority of techno-progressive viewpoints, advancements in science and technology will not be considered proper progress until and unless they are accompanied by a fair distribution of the costs, risks, and rewards of these new capabilities.