Born in Madison, the Wisconsin Idea changed the nation

Born in Madison, the Wisconsin Idea changed the nation. The Madison Heritage Series. In the early 20th century, experts from around the country came to study Wisconsin’s “laboratory of democracy.” The state’s Progressive politicians, led by “Fighting Bob”, Governor Robert La Follette Sr., were using government in creative new ways. Progressives sought to improve the quality of people’s lives and to limit the power of large corporations., Beginning in 1903, La Follette asked University of Wisconsin experts for help solving society’s problems. This innovative partnership was fundamental to a long-standing university tradition of public service, which became known as the Wisconsin Idea., UW faculty in fields like economics, sociology and agriculture helped pioneer exciting ideas that changed everyday life for future generations of Americans. Unemployment compensation, primary elections and much of what became President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal are just some of the innovations America owes to the Wisconsin Idea., Sidebar:, Charles Van Hise, University of Wisconsin president from 1903 to 1918, encouraged faculty to use their knowledge to better the state and the world. This stance, expressed in the motto “the boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the state,” has endured as the Wisconsin Idea. But the true father of the Wisconsin Idea was a former UW president, the social-minded John Bascom, who taught both Van Hise and Robert La Follette Sr. As governor, La Follette worked with Van Hise to forge partnerships between government and the university. La Follette later became one of the most influential senators in U.S. history and was a leader in the Progressive Movement, which forever changed American life.