Political machine | Definition, History, & Facts

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[{"p":1,"t":467617},{"p":1,"t":1163901},{"p":1,"t":582027},{"p":1,"t":610865},{"p":3,"t":962023},{"p":7,"t":467631},{"p":1,"t":233604},{"p":1,"t":121483},{"p":12,"t":157129},{"p":1,"t":2028711}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="467617"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-machine">political machine</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-machine/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/political-machine">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-machine/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider 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media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/467617/72086"> <picture> <source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/42/71042-050-E199E4CD/cartoon-Thomas-Nast-independence-Tammany-Hall-Tiger.jpg?w=300"> <img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/42/71042-050-E199E4CD/cartoon-Thomas-Nast-independence-Tammany-Hall-Tiger.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop" alt=""The Curious Effect of Clean Linen"" loading="eager" /> </picture> <button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"> <em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em> </button> </a> </div> <figcaption class="card-body"> <div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"> <span> <a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/42/71042-050-E199E4CD/cartoon-Thomas-Nast-independence-Tammany-Hall-Tiger.jpg" data-href="/media/1/467617/72086">"The Curious Effect of Clean Linen"</a> <span><span>"The Curious Effect of Clean Linen," political cartoon by Thomas Nast for <em>Harper's Weekly</em>, October 14, 1882. Nast cartoon picturing a Tammany Hall Tiger hampered by Grover Cleveland's uncompromising honesty and independence from political bosses.</span></span> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <span class="link-blue">(more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </div><div class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h1>political machine</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">politics</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 px-sm-5 px-md-10 js-inline-ai-ask-button"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="467617"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2 text-nowrap" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <a class="js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" href="/print/article/467617" target="_blank" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="print"></em> Print </a> </div> <div> <button class="js-modal qa-cite-modal-button btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=467617] .md-cite-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="verified"></em> Cite </button> <div class="md-cite-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom mb-15"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10">verified</em>Cite </div> <div class="font-serif"> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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In those conditions, political machines—such as <span id="ref140963"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tammany-Hall" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Tammany Hall</a>, run by boss <span id="ref140964"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boss-Tweed" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Magear Tweed</a> (1823–73) in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-City" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New York City</a>—were able to build a loyal voter following, especially among immigrant groups, by performing such favours as providing jobs or housing.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Political machines are characterized by a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="disciplined" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciplined" data-type="MW">disciplined</a> and hierarchical organization, reaching down to neighbourhood and block organizers, that enables the machine to respond to the problems of individual neighbourhoods, or even families, in exchange for loyalty at the polls. The term refers to their ability to elect candidates or enact measures with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/mechanical-efficiency" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mechanical efficiency</a> and predictability.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although the primary goal of a political machine is keeping itself in power rather than providing good government, machines have been responsible for restructuring city governments to centralize authority, improving facilities and services, helping to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="assimilate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assimilate" data-type="MW">assimilate</a> immigrant groups, and encouraging the growth of business and industry. Supporters of political machines say that they “work” and that consolidating power in the hands of a boss, like Mayor <span id="ref140965"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-J-Daley" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Richard J. Daley</a> (1902–76) of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chicago" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chicago</a>, guarantees city governments the power and authority that they need to cope with urban problems effectively. However, because political machines in such cities as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Boston" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Boston</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Philadelphia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Philadelphia</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New York</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pittsburgh" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pittsburgh</a>, Chicago, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kansas-City-Missouri" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Kansas City</a> have also been responsible for many abuses of power, the term carries a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pejorative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pejorative" data-type="MW">pejorative</a> sense.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Organizers who “deliver” the votes are often rewarded with <span id="ref140966"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/spoils-system" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">patronage</a> jobs. However, patronage can result in poorer service to the citizens because appointees may be neither qualified for their jobs nor interested in performing them. Control of both elective and appointed posts also gives a machine control of government salaries and revenues, which can be used to enrich the party at the public’s expense. For example, the machine may accept donations or kickbacks from businesses in return for such favours as tax or zoning <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="concessions" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions" data-type="MW">concessions</a> or the award of lucrative public-works contracts. In some cities, machine business dealings have included accepting money from organized-crime syndicates in exchange for protection from legal interference.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In cities whose neighbourhoods are divided along <span id="ref140967"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnic-group" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ethnic</a> or racial lines, machine patronage may aggravate hostilities by awarding most jobs and services to those people of the same background as the city’s power elite. In practice, this made machine politics the last defense of white neighbourhoods against growing <span id="ref140968"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">black</a> populations, while black politicians who anticipated power viewed their <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituents" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituents" data-type="MW">constituents</a> as merely the latest in a series of ethnic or racial groups that had benefited from the machine.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Since the 19th-century heyday of machine politics, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-service" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">civil service</a> reforms limiting the number of patronage jobs, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/institution" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">institution</a> of direct primaries rather than party nomination of candidates, the municipal operation of public utilities, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/judicial-review" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">judicial review</a> by state and federal courts have all reduced the power of political machines. The steady exodus of city residents to the suburbs since <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">World War II</a> and a more mobile population with fewer ties to particular neighbourhoods have also weakened the social base that once made political machines <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="synonymous" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/synonymous" data-type="EB">synonymous</a> with city government.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Amy-Tikkanen/6393">Amy Tikkanen</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-simplify-root"></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":467617,"pageLength":561,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.36"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.36' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Political machine | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica