Modern Progressive Values: Realizing America's Potential
Defining the values that underlie and unite progressives became an urgent question in the early 21st Century. Progressives came to recognize that, to a great degree, our political choices emerge from our sense of cultural identity and our emotional responses to stories and images, not from ‘rational’ cost-benefit analyses.
This report consolidates the work of many other groups and individuals, who have used a variety of methodologies during the past decade to create lists of values. These lists had many similarities, but differences, too. Gillette analyzed their work to identify a set of six core value clusters (three pairs) that appear to define modern progressive thought: Freedom / Security, Community / The Commons, and Truth / Justice. After detailing what each value pair addresses, this report connects these values to American mental constructs, community identities, and communication strategies.
The three core value pairs in this report give progressives a way of talking about what unites the progressive movement, what progressives most essentially represent. They are a statement of purpose, an image of the country progressives have said they want.
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