Bibliography

"It is popular to regard reform and political creativity as products of large-minded harmony and consensus. But the opposite was the case with Wisconsin progressivism. The very sharpness of these divisions emboldened the winners, La Follette and his Progressives, to push further in the direction of reform. The 'Wisconsin Idea' of drawing on the intellectual expertise of the University of Wisconsin to create and run independent commissions in such areas as banking, insurance, and natural resources, emerged from these heady days [~1904] of combat and victory." [P. 22, col. 2]