Theodore Roosevelt during his tenure as the president of the United States promulgated reforms which were termed “Progressive Policies”. The major issues of concern that were addressed in these policies are political and social matters which undermined the development of business and transport sectors in the nation (Kathleen 371). Strategically, the reforms implemented the use of social science, technology, and engineering to enhance modernization, industrial revolution and promotion of human rights through the constitution in the United States.
Moreover, progressive policies sought to remedy the problems linked to the embezzlement of public finances through corruption and inefficient flow resources (Kathleen 371). This paper, therefore, seeks to unveil the progressive policies which were championed by Theodore Roosevelt immediately after his presidential term. Discussed in detail are the cause of action that he took, the type of coalitions he formed, where his actions led and how the 1912 election centralized progressive policies in the national debate.
Pure democracy was one of the policies advocated for by Theodore Roosevelt immediately after his term of presidency. During his reign in the United States, Roosevelt established a sense of democracy by expanding the executive branch of the government, to ensure that peoples’ voices are accurately represented by the elected individuals in both the state and the federal governments (Kathleen 374). By centralizing power in the federal government, he diminished the chances of misrepresentation by municipal governments and ensured close monitory of the United States affairs to the fulfillment of the will of the people.
After his term, President Wilson took over and through him, progressivism was kept alive in the United States by expanding executive arms of the government and freedom of expression being granted to the citizens. People were granted the power to exercise their democratic rights by ejecting poor leaders from the government and amending the constitution through a referendum. The government also took the responsibility of monitoring business operations within the country to aid transparency in all operations including transport means.
Eventually, the Federal Trade Commission was created in 1915 which ensured pure democracy needed in government businesses (Kathleen 375). Moreover, the Federal Reserve Act was promulgated, leading to the full influence of progressive policies, even though the party was not influential at that time.
Roosevelt also championed for the reliance on people’s opinions through the constitution in the United States. The reforms which were established by Roosevelt ensured a close monitory of the judicial system at the federal level and mandated people at the lowest level to exercise justice deserved even upon their representatives. By so doing, the Progressive Policies unified opinions within the government with the ideas of the people leading to harmonization of business activities operation of business activities as planned from the government down to the people in localized areas. As a result, the republican democracy, in which the government was making citizens its subjects, was eliminated since it never facilitated the achievements of peoples’ expectations.
Consequently, pure democracy was achieved since the voice of the people was directly implemented through the constitution. It was not until the 1912 election that even the idea of sobriety in the constitution by James Madison was overturned by Progressive Policies’ reform (Kathleen 382). Therefore, it is evident that Theodore Roosevelt promoted democracy to the lowest level that has ever been accomplished in history.
Theodore Roosevelt took up the cause of national transformation to facilitate democracy and the industrial revolution in the United States. It was through the Progressive party that the political system in the United States was enforced to change from a localized democracy to more than two parties eyeing for power. By declaring political war for the best of the nation, Roosevelt enhanced a system of democracy where people’s opinions can be fulfilled (Kathleen 377). As a consequence his advocacy for the new electoral reforms, many people saw the sense and adopted the ideas in various counties within the United States (Kathleen 378). His campaigns for the new reforms aided his popularity and brought to the people’s sense of how important their votes count for their well-being in life.
Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party of the United States by 1912 after splitting from the Republican Party to keep the mission of progressive policy a national agenda. Through the Progressive Party, the United States citizens were enlightened on matters of democracy and human rights leading to their high preference for the progressive policies candidates for the presidency. The party was composed of delegates from different states and was able to implement the constitutional rights of citizens through the progressive movement reform program of Governor Woodrow Wilson (Kathleen 387). The primary campaigns led to seizing of the stronghold seats of the Republican Party and the representatives joined together as a team campaigning for national transformation.
The election of 1912 brought Progressivism to the center United States national debate since it marked the point of transformation from a decentralized system of government. The top two candidates of that time belonged to the Progressive Policies democratic movement. More importantly, it was at that point when the bill of human rights and democracy was brought to the conscience of all citizens. Thus, it marked a transformation from a state of unawareness into the centralized implementation of the constitutional rights of all citizens (Kathleen 405). It is, therefore, clear that Theodore Roosevelt virtually won the 1912 elections of the United States since his policies are still alive today.
Work Cited
Kathleen, Dalton. Theodore Roosevelt: A Streneous Life. Vintage, 2004.