The Strengths and Weaknesses o

A detailed Summary of The Strengths and Weaknesses o

Machine politics had numerous strengths among which were the high levels of political participation it encouraged. It also satisfied important social needs that official government institutions could not fulfill due to the decentralized structure of government provided for by the Constitution. Effective party bosses were able organize and centralize fragmented power in order to satisfy the needs of different groups in their community. It humanized and personalized assistance to the needy by directly appealing to individual concerns instead of to broader public interests. It replaced what was perceived by immigrants to be the cold, bureaucratic dispensation of limited aid following upon detailed investigations of legal claims to aid of the client..." with the more personal techniques employed by the precinct captain who "asks no questions, exacts no compliance with legal rules of eligibility and does not snoop into private affairs."(Urban Politics A Reader, 104)

Politicians of the machine were seen as "just one of us" and the machine politics became a system of patronage and personal ties. This was the case especially for immigrants, who faced discrimination and had limited opportunities for upward mobility. Machines provided imm

Therefore, machine politics had the long-term effect of slowing down the overall economic and social advancement of represented groups relative to other immigrant groups who did not fall into the patronage system of machine politics (112). Another drawback applied to business that were able to reap the benefits of the patronage system. Only a small percentage of business that had formed deals with party bosses found the system to be useful. The fact that machine politics encouraged more participation does not necessarily reflect a more democratic society because loyalty to the party no election day was ensured through methods of intimidation and violence and corruption throughout the system was widespread. Furthermore, in cities where machine politicians had a strong grasp of power they did little to assist in the economic assimilation of other ethnic groups and in some instances excluded them from having a role in politics (115).

At the end of the nineteenth century opposition to machine politics emerged from upper and middle class Americans who claimed that machine politics was not "democratic." Reform politics were led by well educated professionals, such as doctors lawyers and businessmen (136). They believed that government would function more effectively if it were modeled after a corporation. Leaders of reform politics sought to remove power and influence from party bosses and the patronage system of politics and centralize power among a small group of experts who had the necessary knowledge and skills to manage local governments as efficiently as possible.

igrants as well as "deprived classes" with alternative paths for social mobility when these groups encountered the relative absence of opportunity for achieving these types of success." Machine politics also benefited business both those that engaged legitimate and illegal en

Some common words found in the essay are:
Stephen Erie, Samuel Hays, Politics Reader, Constitution Effective, , machine politics, Irish Eventually, reform politics, lower class, patronage system, party bosses, political power, upward mobility, machine politics system, machine politicians, social mobility, system representation,

Approximate Word count = 1250
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics