The Wisconsin idea is that the state university system should help the state of Wisconsin and the world. Charles Richard Van Hise was a president of the University of Wisconsin who said, "I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the university reaches every family of the state," later articulated as the "Wisconsin Idea".

LaFollete

The Wisconsin idea is a plan that the University of Wisconsin upholds stating that the boundaries, ideas and research of Wisconsin University should be the same as the state. This philosophy has been guided by the university which was introduced by Charles Van Hise in 1904.

The Wisconsin Idea refers to reforms that, among other things, called for direct elections.