Political Machines
Political Machine is a term given to an unofficial organization designed to keep a certain political party or political group in power. Although Political Machines were originally designed for positive actions, a group of political leaders turned this positive intention into devastating corruption. As power was put into the wrong hands, large cities of the United States were put in jeopardy. Political Machines caused corruption in the larger cities and states of the United States, especially New York.
Political machines are an unofficial city organization designed to keep a certain boss or group in power. Political Machines were designed to create organization, but as the machines came in the picture the political
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The phrase “vote early and often” started in this era.
“In most years between 1865 and 1930, Patronage Machines ruled many large states of America such as, Minneapolis, Pittsburg, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and New York” (Reid). For example, according to Steffens, “one of the most significant early muckraking stories happened here in Minneapolis, and although it is sometimes overlooked in the general journalism histories of the time, it remains important to our understanding of how the field evolved”. “Fifteen of the seventeen united state’s senators were Republicans, and both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were controlled by powerful and long-lived Republican city “machines” (Pennsylvania). Chicago had one of the longest lasting histories of the use of Political Machines. “ In some areas, Political Machines, such as Chicago’s Democratic Party organization continued to be important until the 1970’s.” Although these states were all controlled by Political Machines, New York’s city hall, Tammany Hall, was the most affected. During this time period, “reformers opposed the machine, calling for such improvements as civil service test for jobs, closer control over how the city spent its money and watching the polls on election day. Over time such reforms weakened the power of Political Machines” (Rosenfeld). Political Machines power waned during the tenure of New York City.” Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (1934-1945), and the
A political party is defined as an organized group of people with roughly similar political views, that seeks to influence the public by getting its candidates elected to public office. During George Washington's first term, there were no publicly accepted political parties. During Washington's second term, two parties emerged. The Federalists and Democratic-Republicans are similar by being the first political parties to emerge and are different through their stances on government power, the economy, and foreign affairs, which all affected their group of supporters.
In this view, the study of technology and politics that focuses only on political behavior or political institutions as conceived even in the more broad-based neo-institutionalist approaches, would be incomplete, or worse, misleading, as it would imply that material artifacts do not themselves matter from the standpoint of understanding political constraints and influences. Constructivists are instinctively suspicious of political arguments which assume that new technologies will necessarily work as intended by their promoters. This means that there will typically be more than one possible form that the technology could take, with different political consequences. Rather, they aim to unravel how different groups with conflicting interests and expectations negotiate the specific form of a technology, including not just its material design but also how it is used. (Sujatha Raman, 2003).
When asked whether he learned anything as an actor that's been useful to his presidency, Ronald Reagan replied, “ There have been times in this office when I’ve wondered how you can do the job if you hadn’t been an actor.” Politicians must employ methods of artifice and present themselves as an idealistic image of themselves in order to win elections.
The film Swing Vote is an American political culture film that relies heavily on film subtext to depict the negative attitude many Americans have towards voting, corruption inside a political election, and the spectacle of media frenzy. While the film gives a light hearted impression of a rare political snafu it is still consistent with the main themes of other political films of manipulation, money lust, and power hungry political heads that will stop at nothing for their own personal gain. We also see the political candidates merely as puppets while their campaign managers are the ones truly calling the shots. Swing Vote is a unique political culture film because due to the ordeal in the film’s plot, the politicians are at a disadvantage when they are usually the ones in power. With the tables turned we see how they construct their corrupt schemes and the direct effect it has on the character representing the American perspective. The strong symbols that convey the cultural norms in America’s political system are in need of a deeper analysis.
A political party is defined as a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on policies and programs for the society with a view to promote their supporters' interests. In democracies, political parties are elected by the electorate to run a government. The United States is a considered a two-party system, with its two most powerful parties being the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
Political machines were a very corrupt but necessary group during the 19th century into the early 20th. They were a local political party organization that made it possible to get a large number of voters out to get their candidate elected. Political machines were appealing to immigrants and other poor people living in the cities as much as they were important to the politician they got elected.
Amidst the late 19th century, the rise of political machines tantalized the longing, from many, for a post-Civil War reconstruction which would have been punctuated by an ethical, aiding government. The aforementioned political machines were small networks which offered services to voters in exchange for economic or political gains. While these groups aided many groups, including immigrants, many political machines fell victim to corruption. The reason being, once the candidates from said machine came into office, these men would use their political standing for personal gain. For instance in the case of the Tweed Ring Scandal, William Tweed, the boss of the Democratic political machine, headed a group of politicians who sought to defraud New York. The provided excerpt, which outlines one scheme which was orchestrated by Mr. Tweed, reads “One scheme, the construction of the New York County Courthouse, involved extravagant graft. The project cost taxpayers $13 million, while
Political machines and the reformers who rallied against them had incredible influence in urban politics in the 19th and early 20th century. Each, however, has been labeled as corrupt monopolies and are seen as selfish towards their own goals. While there are tactics that worked to help cities grow stronger, the value of equal voting for all citizens was compromised in each regime’s quest for power.
Boss Tweed is the best example of machine politics. He was in charge of the “Tweed Ring” in New York City. Machine politics worked wonderful in New York City where the Irish stuck together and used machine politics to their advantage(Mandlebaum 28). Tweed gained control over the police officers allowing him to exercise control over contracts of jobs. The Tweed Ring stole more than two hundred million dollars from the city and state (Mandelbaum 97). In 1872, the New York Times exposed and the lawyer Samuel Tilden exposed Tweed and destroyed his career (Mandelbaum 199).
The political machine is very powerful in the city and because of how powerful it is that urban United States was able to develop so much and increase in power in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. A political machine is system of political organization based on patronage, the spoils system, and political ties. Sometimes political machines have a boss and sometimes they may not have a boss, and always have a corps of workers who depend on the patronage given by government contracts and jobs. Machine politics has existed in many United States cities for a long time now, but are still in effect in some areas.
One of the hidden ways the government extorted the American people is a form of corruption and embezzlement known as political machines. Political machines were used to maintain power in the government, often times organizations or people would ban together to keep a certain politician or political group in
A political party is an organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their main functions are similar: to supply personnel for government positions; to organize these personnel around the formation and implementation of public policy; and to serve in a mediating role between individuals and their government. Political parties are as old as organized political systems. Two parties in particular, the Populist Party and the Progressive Party are alike in many ways, from their platforms to their general issues. In general, however, the structure and behavior of
There are thousands of years of history that have taken place. History is not like art(less subjective), but there is still plenty of room for speculation, criticism, and debate among historians, professors, as well as average citizens. However, not all these moments are documented, or done successfully specifically. Some of these moments end up becoming movies, books, or even historical fiction novels, but what about those fundamental moments that aren’t readily documented? In the book The Birth of Modern Politics Lynn Hudson Parsons claims that the 1828 election was momentous in the history of both political history, as well as our nation. Parsons not only discusses the behind the scenes of the first public election of 1828, but the
The most important aspect in understanding political corruption in New York City during the Gilded Age would have to be identifying how these officials were able to come into power and gain support. In the book, Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics, the author Mark Summers has examined just that. The tactics and approaches to government and interaction with New York City citizens were something that was very unique as well as new to American society. The corrupt officials
There have been many different political parties since the beginning of the American political system. A political party is made up of a group of people that share common goals and ideals, and these people work together to help elect people to offices that share these goals to represent them. Political parties work to try to control the government and their ultimate goal is to win as many elections and to gain as many offices as possible.