progressivism

This term describes a belief system centered on the active pursuit of social improvement through systemic change. It carries a connotation of optimism and agency, suggesting that human reason and legislative action can rectify historical injustices and inefficiency. It is most frequently employed in political science and historical analysis to describe specific eras of reform.

As an abstract noun representing a philosophy or ideology, it is strictly uncountable. It cannot be pluralized or counted with numbers; instead, one must use partitive phrases such as a strain of progressivism or a form of progressivism to describe specific variations of the ideology.