Party Machines and the Golden Era of Party Politics

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Party Machines and the Golden Era of Party
Politics

• American Political Parties
• Prof. Christina Wolbrecht
• 6 April 2009

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Party Politics, 1878-1913

• Gilded Age (1878-1889)
• Progressive Era (1890-1913)

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Labor unrest

• Reaction to industrialization
• Not just U.S. around the world
• 1880s almost 10,000 strikes and lockouts
• 1886 700,000 workers involved in strikes

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Political Machines

• Definition
• Machine-style politics
• Any political organization that uses material
  incentives
• Patronage job
• Government contract
• Zoning variance
• Fixed parking ticket
• Expedited business license

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Political Machines

• Definition
• Machine-style politics
• Political machine
• Hierarchical organization with a single boss or
  small leadership clique
• Stable coalitions
• Personal contacts, loyalty, constituent service
• Avoid national issues or ideology emphasize
  local concerns
• Symbolic benefits, often related to ethnicity
• Power top down, not bottom up

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Party Machines Organization
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History

• Begin to emerge, mid-1800s
• Early American cities mercantilist
• Changing cities strain this model
• Reaction
• Political machines
• 1870-1945 22 / 30 largest cities machine-style
  politics
• 17 boss rule disciplined, hierarchical machines
• Peaked late 20s/early 30s in 1932, 10/30 bosses

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Examples

• Tammany Hall, New York (1870s)
• Taggert machine, Indianapolis (1890s)
• Pendergast machine, Kansas City (late 1890s)
• Albuquerque (1910s)
• Baltimore (1900s)
• Boston (1880s)
• Cleveland (1890s)
• Denver (1900s)
• Lowell MA (1910s)
• Memphis (1920s)
• New Orleans (1900s)
• Philadelphia (1880s)
• Pittsburgh (1880s)
• Rochester NY (1900s)