In what ways did progressives want to impose order in the United States?

Question

I am writing a paper and I have to argue whether progressives were reformers who wanted to expand democracy or conservatives who sought to impose order. I know they wanted to spread democracy by having woman's suffrage and a secret ballot, but I do not know how they wanted to impose order. Any help??

Answer 1

Get Gabriel Kolko's "Triumph of Conservatism". a revisionist history of the Progressive Movement. But all political movements seek order, the question is what sort of order, and who will profit under it.