Whois & Analysis for progressivetakeover.org

The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution.

It was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854.

The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932.

A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one which uses the people in a given district as the basis for a political or economic movement.

Grassroots movements and organizations utilize collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level.

Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision making, and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures.

Grassroots movements, using self-organization, encourages community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community.

Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies from fundraising and registering voters, to simply encouraging political conversation.

Goals of specific movements vary, but the movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics.

These political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics as Cornel West contends are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to regional political concerns.

A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states.

The formal name varies from state to state.

In 25 states, the legislature is simply called the Legislature, or the State Legislature, while in 19 states, the legislature is called the General Assembly.

In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the General Court, while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature the Legislative Assembly.

Progressivism is a philosophy based on the Idea of Progress, which asserts that advancements in science, technology, economic development, and social organization are vital to the improvement of the human condition.

Progressivism became highly significant during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, out of the belief that Europe was demonstrating that societies could progress in civility from barbaric conditions to civilization through strengthening the basis of empirical knowledge as the foundation of society.

Figures of the Enlightenment believed that progress had universal application to all societies and that these ideas would spread across the world from Europe.

Sociologist Robert Nisbet defines five "crucial premises" of the Idea of Progress as being: value of the past; nobility of Western civilization; worth of economic/technological growth; scientific/scholarly knowledge obtained through reason over faith; the intrinsic importance and worth of life on Earth.

Beyond this, the meanings of progressivism have varied over time and from different perspectives.

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.

Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century.

Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government.

This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.