Political Machines

I

Introduction

Political Machines, local political party organization capable of mobilizing or “manufacturing” large numbers of votes on behalf of candidates for political office. Political machines developed in the United States in the early 19th century, reached the peak of their power toward the end of the century, and declined in importance after 1900. Political party machines dominated political life in most American cities in the decades between the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Great Depression (1930s). In some areas, political machines, such as Chicago's Democratic Party organization, continued to be important into the 1970s. Today, traditional political machines are virtually extinct in the United States.

Strong political party organizations, such as Germany's Social Democratic Party, also developed in Europe during the latter half of the 19th century. European governments tended to be centralized, however, in contrast to America's federal structure, which disperses power between national, state, and local levels of government. For this reason, political parties in Europe were generally more powerful at the national rather than the local level. Today, most European nations continue to possess vigorous party organizations that have strong ties to their members. By contrast, American political parties have weakened as their organizational structures have decayed at the local level and with that their capacity to mobilize and activate voters.

II

Machine Organization

The traditional American political machine consisted of three elements: a county committee, which governed the machine; a cadre of ward and precinct leaders who mobilized and organized support at the neighborhood level; and party loyalists who supported the machine with votes and financial support in return for benefits provided by ward and precinct leaders.

A

The County Committee

The county committee consisted of professional politicians and the party's top office holders within the county. In some cases, a single leader, called the “party boss,” would dominate the committee. In the 20th century, individuals such as Kansas City's Thomas J. Pendergast, Boston's James Michael Curley, and Chicago's Richard J. Daley exercised a controlling influence on their city's political affairs through their command of the county committee. Often, however, no single individual dominated the county committee, which operated through a principle of collective leadership. The Tammany Hall machine that influenced New York City's politics from late in the 18th century until midway into the 20th century was seldom dominated by a single “boss.”

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The power of the county committee depended upon its ability to dominate both electoral politics and the agencies of county and municipal government within its jurisdiction. The county committee had absolute control over party nominations and almost total control over the money and votes needed to win election. As a result, the machine's leaders possessed enormous influence with elected government officials, including mayors, judges, county commissioners, and prosecutors. Machines also played important roles in statewide and national political campaigns and could therefore demand jobs and other favors from state and national officials as well as local government leaders. In some cases, county committee members held important government posts themselves. For example, Richard J. Daley simultaneously served both as head of the Cook County Democratic Committee and as Mayor of Chicago.

Through their control of local government offices and influence over elected officials, members of the county committee controlled government “patronage” jobs that could be used to reward loyal party workers. At the same time, county committee members were in a position to demand financial contributions from businesses within the county in exchange for preferential treatment from the government. Firms that contributed to the machine might receive government contracts, favorable tax treatment, and prompt municipal services. Those that refused would often be harassed by county health and safety inspectors, find their tax assessments increased, and have difficulty obtaining municipal services, such as trash collection and snow clearance.

Political machines often accepted payments from criminal enterprises in exchange for protection from police interference with their activities. In New York City, for example, protection money paid by gambling and prostitution rackets offered the infamous political machine led by William Marcy Tweed a steady source of income during the mid-19th century. On election day, a massed army of small-time thugs and hoodlums returned the favors of the Tweed Ring by stuffing ballot boxes with votes for Tweed and intimidating voters.

B

Wards and Precincts

The county committee's control of government jobs and its ability to secure contributions from business firms enabled it to establish and maintain the machine's second organizational tier, the precinct or ward organization. A precinct is the smallest electoral district within a county. Cities are usually divided into wards, each containing a number of precincts, for the purpose of electing members of the municipal council. The machine's ward organization consisted of a ward committeeman who, in turn, directed the activities of precinct captains. Usually the committeeman and the captains received government jobs in exchange for their party efforts. Often these individuals did little actual government work. Their real job was to serve the needs of friends, families, and neighbors; secure the loyalty and votes of these constituents; and thereby strengthen the party. Many ward leaders also benefited financially from the preferential treatment they could offer local businesses and contractors. Among the most famous ward bosses was George Washington Plunkitt, a Tammany Hall ward boss of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Plunkitt's personal credo was “I seen my opportunities and I took 'em.”

The precinct captains were the machine's workhorses. Each precinct captain was responsible for establishing relationships with the several hundred families in the precinct. Captains offered a variety of services to their constituents. They could help family members find jobs with the municipal government or with businesses obligated to the government. Captains could assist with minor legal problems. Captains often operated informal social service agencies, providing money, food, clothing, and shelter to destitute constituents.

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