Title: Urban Political Machines
1Urban Political Machines their Decline
- Extent
- Reform
- Other Forces
- Impact
2HAVE URBAN POLITICAL MACHINES REALLY DISAPPEARED?
- Four elements of machines (in addition to
patronage) - Four changes in the practice of machine politics
3Four Elements of Machines (in addition to
patronage or material rewards)
- Disciplined hierarchy led by single boss
- Party controls nomination to public office
- Party leadership does not hold public office
- Loyalty maintained by a mixture of
non-ideological and psychic rewards
4Tammany Hall Politics revolves around boss
Richard Croker (1889)
5Four Changes in Practices of Machine Politics
- Racial divisions fracture hierarchy
- Patronage less important
- New immigrants less dependent on machines
- New institutions take functions of central city
machines
6DECLINE OF MACHINE POLITICS
- EXTENT
- REFORM
- OTHER FORCES
- IMPACT
7Reforming the Machines Out of Business
- Social dimensions of Reformers
- Programs of structural reforms
8Reformers and Bosses Social Dimensions
- View of social reformers as morning glories
- Conflicts between reformers and bosses
- Immigrants looked on politics from personal
perspective - Upper-middle class reformers looked on politics
as arena to realize broad moral principles - Differences in ethos public regarding vs private
regarding - Social Reformers
- Concern with abuses of capitalist system
- Example (Hazen Pingree Detroit)
9Goals/Programs of Structural Reformers
- Goal efficiency (as contrasted with
anti-capitalism of reformers - Example (Grover Cleveland Buffalo)
- Core programs
- Merit appointments
- Privatization
10Notable Innovations (electoral machinery) of the
Urban Structural Reformers
- Direct primaries
- At-large elections
- Short ballot
- Non-partisan elections
11DECLINE OF MACHINE POLITICS
- EXTENT
- REFORM
- OTHER FORCES
- IMPACT
12Other Forces and the Decline of Machines
- Federal government
- Demography
13Federal Government and Decline of the Urban
Political Machines
- Welfare politics empowers the federal government
- Magnitude of resources involved beyond the
capabilities of municipalities - thought of as a legal right
- Infrastructure development favors a national
focus - Equity between cities/regions
- Again, magnitude of resources problem
- Courts
14Demographics and the Decline of Urban Political
Machines
- Minority migration pressures machines to become
more inclusive - Westward drift increases proportion of population
in urban areas lacking machine tradition - Rise of suburbia
- Lack machine tradition
- Suburbanites focus on their careers rather than
on patronage from machines
15Decline of the Urban Machine
- EXTENT
- REFORM
- OTHER FORCES
- IMPACT
16Impact of the Urban Political Machines Decline
Institutions
- Kinds of cities that favor reform style of
government - Strong mayor (Chicago)
- Council manager (Dallas/San Diego)
- Commission (Galveston, Texas)
17Other Impacts of the Urban Political Machines
Decline
- Class bias of political reform
- Fragmentation and the decrease of accountability