Progressivism as Anti‑Founding Project

Justice Clarence Thomas frames progressivism not merely as a policy tendency but as an intellectual movement that rejects the Declaration’s account of natural rights and seeks to reorganize authority around administrative expertise. He locates the origin in Woodrow Wilson’s advocacy for separating administration from politics and argues this underpins later New Deal consolidation of power inside agencies. — If progressivism is understood as undermining the Founders’ premises, debates about administrative authority, constitutional safeguards, and Supreme Court jurisprudence shift from tactical fights to existential questions about regime design.