Political science professor publishes study of Richard T. Ely

Dr. Luigi Bradizza’s interest in Progressive Era political economist Richard T. Ely was sparked while he was a graduate student at the University of Dallas. Now, Bradizza’s doctoral dissertation on Ely has evolved into the recently published “Richard T. Ely’s Critique of Capitalism.”

A professor at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ely helped to alter the political and economic direction of the country from laissez faire capitalism towards a more interventionist and redistributionist approach.

“The Progressive Era had an enormous effect on our nation, politically and economically,” said Bradizza, an assistant professor of political science at Salve Regina. “I believe (along with Ely, as it turns out) that ideas drive history. And Progressive Era ideas help to explain how we partly abandoned the principles of the founding, and how we got to where we are today.”

Bradizza holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, a master’s degree from Boston College and a doctorate in politics from the University of Dallas. His main area of research is American political thought, particularly the principles of the American founding and Progressive Era departures from those principles.