Progressive Era Vs New Deal

The first half of the twentieth century involved drastic changes in the role of government concerning the cultivation of virtue in its citizens and the economy, as well as in the strength and size of the executive branch and government as a whole. The Progressive and New Deal programs provided a structure for the reformers to implement these changes.

Formative ambition was still a major part of government in both the Progressive and New Deal periods. It was also evident in the pre-progressive industrial era, when the sole mission of organizations like the Knights of Labor was to create a cooperative community of virtuous citizens. Progressives attempted to foster a similar community spirit with their playground, sports team, and tenement
In 1937, the Supreme Court used the federal power to regulate interstate commerce to approve many economy-regulation programs, such as minimum-wage, labor-management, and unemployment legislation. The National Industrial Recovery Act attempted to stimulate production and employment, improve working conditions, and lower prices -- economic reforms that were only able to be implemented because of the crisis of the Great Depression. The National Recovery Administration was created to achieve total government control over the economy, quite different from the Founders' emphasis on self and minimalist government. Finally, with World War II, Roosevelt was forced to effect deficit spending to stimulate the economy. This exercise of Keynesian economics set the stage for the next half-century, where the voluntarist conception of freedom prevailed and cultivation of virtue was no longer a government
While Wilson condoned decentralization to resist economic concentration and preserve self-government, Theodore Roosevelt embraced the new national interdependence, recommending regulations for trusts and monopolies, not abolishment -- evidence of the shift to positive government. Both Wilson and Roosevelt extended the role of the presidency by assuming responsibility for shaping public opinion and also as they facilitated cooperation between the three branches of government. Progressives also brought in neutral administrators or social scientists to take the place of many politicians or direct democracy. Regulations on political parties and elections also displayed this distrust in politicians, with innovations like the direct election of Senators, secret ballots, and campaign reform. While Progressives brought government more on the local level with their social engineers, the enlargement of the presidency and the general reform atmosphere paved the way for the centralist changes of the New