A political organization offering services to business and voters in exchange for political or financial support

› Huge growth in cities = huge problems › New demands on public services:

Fire Police Sanitation

› bridges, roads, parks, schools, sewer systems, utility systems needed to be built

› Political Machines developed to get things done.

› Goal of PMs = get candidates they supported elected to office

› “Bosses” managed the Political Machines

Controlled the local party officials › Local party officials

Handed out jobs, political favors, social services = loyalty

local residents – voted for political machine’s candidates

› Machines gained loyalty of the urban poor

› Tammany Hall of New York met immigrants as they exited Ellis

Island Recommended housing and jobs,

helped them get settled Helped get new immigrants

naturalized and able to vote for Tammany Hall candidates

› Political Machines had to keep power. Resorted to corruption to take and keep

control› Election Fraud

Voter Fraud – machines would organize groups of

voter to vote multiple times names of the dead would be used to

help non-registered voters cast ballots used disguises to vote multiple times paid off election officials to overlook

discrepancies (in Philadelphia, a district with only 100 registered voters returned 252 votes)

Party officials tried to increase political power and gain personal wealth

Graft – acquiring money through illegal or dishonest methods

Pocketed money meant for public works Kickbacks

Bosses gave contracts for work to people who would pay them a portion of the earnings from the contract

Bosses granted certain companies monopoly power in exchange for cash payments