Republican governor Robert La Follette is gov of Wisconsin (jan 1, 1901 – sep 5, 1908)

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Wisconsin idea: A policy promoted by Republican governor Robert La Follette of Wisconsin for greater government intervention in the economy, with reliance on experts, particularly progressive economists, for policy recommendations.

The revolt of Republican insurgents signaled the strength of grassroots demands for change. No one described these emerging goals more eloquently than Jane Addams, who famously declared in Democracy and Social Ethics (1902), “The cure for the ills of Democracy is more Democracy.” It was a poignant statement, given the sharply antidemocratic direction American politics had taken since the 1890s. What, now, should more democracy look like? Various groups of progressives — women, antipoverty reformers, African American advocates — often disagreed about priorities and goals. Some, frustrated by events in the United States, traveled abroad to study inspiring experiments in other nations, hoping to bring ideas home.

Wisconsin Idea — greater government intervention in the economy, with reliance on experts, particularly progressive economists, for policy recommendations. Like Addams, La Follette combined respect for expertise with commitment to “more Democracy.” He won battles to restrict lobbying and to give Wisconsin citizens the right of recall — voting to remove unpopular politicians from office — and referendum — voting directly on a proposed law, rather than leaving it in the hands of legislators. Continuing his career in the U.S. Senate, La Follette, like Roosevelt, advocated increasingly aggressive measures to protect workers and check corporate power.

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