Machine Politics

Examples of Machine Politics in the following topics:

• Urban Politics

  • During the Gilded Age, politics were characterized by the "political machines."
  • Political machines routinely used fraud and bribery to further their ends.
  • Benefits and problems both resulted from the rule of political machines.
  • The modern era of politics was dominated by machine politics in many ways.
  • Machine politics persisted in Chicago after the decline of similar machines in other large American cities.

• City Government and the "Bosses"

  • Parties set up citywide political machines that brought together public officials and business leaders in a system of patronage and support.
  • Louis, etc.) were accused of using political machines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • Many political machines formed in cities to serve immigrants to the U.S. in the late nineteenth century who viewed machines as a vehicle for political enfranchisement.
  • At the same time, most political machines' staunchest opponents were members of the established class (nativist Protestants).
  • Evaluate the significance of the political machine in nineteenth century America

• Civil Service Reform

  • The Stalwarts, a faction of the Republican Party in the late 19th century, opposed civil service reform and favored machine politics.
  • Senators of both parties were accustomed to being consulted about political appointments and turned against Hayes.
  • It also made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons.
  • However, the law would also prove to be a major political liability for Arthur.
  • The law offended machine politicians within the Republican Party and did not prove to be enough for the party's reformers; hence, Arthur lost popularity within the Republican Party and was unable to win the party's Presidential nomination at the 1884 Republican National Convention.

• Politics in the Gilded Age

  • To take advantage of the new economic opportunity, both parties built so-called "political machines" to manage elections, reward supporters, and pay off potential opponents.
  • Large cities became dominated by political machines, in which constituents supported a candidate in exchange for anticipated patronage.
  • Perhaps the largest example of a political machine from this time period is Tammany Hall in New York City, led by Boss Tweed.
  • These groups, furthermore, had distinctive moral perspectives and political needs.
  • There was a sense that government enabled political machines to intervene in the economy and the resulting favoritism, bribery, inefficiency, waste, and corruption had negative consequences.

• Middle-Class Reformers

  • After 1900 the Progressive Era brought political and social reforms, such as new roles for education and a higher status for women.
  • After 1900, the Progressive Era brought political and social reforms, such as new roles for education and a higher status for women, as well as modernizing many areas of government and society.
  • The progressives worked through new middle class organizations to fight against the corruption and behind-the-scenes power of entrenched state party organizations and big city machines.
  • The hammering impact of Progressive Era writers bolstered aims of certain sectors of the population, especially a middle class caught between political machines and big corporations, to take political action.

• Corruption and Reform: Hayes to Harrison

  • A spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for their support and as an incentive to keep working for the party (as opposed to a system of awarding offices on the basis of merit independent of political activity).
  • After a series of party reversals at the presidential level (1884, 1888, 1892, 1896), the result was that most federal jobs were under civil service, which allowed for more expertise and less politics.
  • The 1883 law only applied to federal jobs, not to the state and local jobs that were the main basis for political machines (which was not addressed until the Progressive Era).
  • The Progressive Era political reforms led to structural changes in administrative departments and changes in the way the government managed public affairs.

• The Gilded Age

  • Historians view the Gilded Age as a period of rapid economic, technological, political, and social transformation.
  • Technological innovations of the time included the telephone, skyscraper, refrigerator, car, linotype machine, electric lightbulb, typewriter, and electric motor, as well as advances in chromolithography, steel production, and many other industries.
  • Gilded Age politics, called the "Third Party System," featured very close contests between the Republicans and Democrats (with occasional third-party political campaigns by farmers and labor unions), civil service reform, organized movements that enlisted many women working for prohibition and women's suffrage, the strengthening of big city machines, and the transition from party to modern interest-group politics.
  • Nearly all of the eligible men were political partisans, and voter turnout often exceeded 90 percent in some states.
  • With the rapid growth of cities, political machines increasingly took control of urban politics.

• Jackson's Appointments and Rivalries

  • In American politics, a spoils system (or patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory.
  • This type of practice is in contrast to a merit-based system, in which political offices are awarded to individuals with the highest merit, regardless of political activity.
  • Before March 4, 1829, moderation had prevailed in the transfer of political power from one presidency to another.
  • The separation between political activity and the civil service was made even stronger with the Hatch Act of 1939, which prohibited federal employees from engaging in many political activities.
  • Modern variations on the spoils system are often described as "the political machine."

• Manufacturing

  • The "American System" featured semi-skilled labor using machine tools and jigs to make standardized, identical, interchangeable parts, which could be assembled with a minimum of time and skill.
  • Interchangeability of parts was finally achieved by combining a number of innovations and improvements in machining operations and machine tools, which were developed primarily for making textile machinery .
  • These innovations included the invention of new machine tools and jigs (in both cases, for guiding the cutting tool), fixtures for holding the work in the proper position, and blocks and gauges to check the accuracy of the finished parts.
  • Furthermore, Hamilton and the Federalists believed that the characteristics of the successful industrialists--self-reliance, autonomy, innovation, and entrepreneurship--were the bedrock of values on which they sought to model the national political system.
  • According to Hamilton, the commercial classes created a class of talented, industrious, and virtuous men who could be trusted to wield federal political power.

• Protective Tariffs

  • The British government tried to maintain their near monopoly on cheap and efficient textile manufacturing by prohibiting the export of textile machines, machine models, or the emigration of people familiar with these machines.
  • Intense political opposition to higher tariffs came from Southern Democrats and plantation owners in South Carolina who had almost no manufacturing industry and imported many products with high tariffs.
  • While the Nullification Crisis would be resolved in early 1833, tariff policy would continue to be a national political issue between the Democratic Party and the newly emerged Whig Party for the next 20 years.