Progressivism

The progressive believed that by applying a more uncorrupt form of democracy they could in fact fix the already corrupt democracy especially at the state and city levels. The progressives believed that if given a chance the majority of voters would elect honest respectable officials unlike those elected by the corrupt political machine but to do this they needed people to vote. So they compiled numerous methods for increasing the participation of the average citizen in political decisions. The secret ballot box, by using the method adopted by the Australians the voter would not be manipulated by the political party that would affect a voters decision by standing next to a ballot box and intimidating him or her. This method was first accepted by Massachusetts in 1888 and proved to be really popular by 1910 all voting states adopted this method. The progressive governor of Wisconsin Robert La Follete introduced the method of direct primaries in which the majority vote would elect the party candidates for the state and federal offices. This method was used to try to minimize the power of political bosses to try to keep the corrupt officials from gaining office once again. The direct election of state senators was also a plus for the progressives for many years the senators had been selected by the vote of the state legislature. The corrupt state legislature would then of course vote for the corrupt official for senate.