These proliferated once suffrage expanded to wage earners in the early 1830s. These networks bound together parties, voters, and the civil service.
- Britannica:
. . . in U.S. politics, a party organization, headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state. The rapid growth of American cities in the 19th century, a result of both immigration and migration from rural areas, created huge problems for city governments, which were often poorly structured and unable to provide services. In those conditions, political machines—such as Tammany Hall, run by boss William Magear Tweed (1823–73) in New York City—were able to build a loyal voter following, especially among immigrant groups, by performing such favors as providing jobs or housing.
Political machines are characterized by a disciplined and hierarchical organization, reaching down to neighborhood and block organizers, that enables the machine to respond to the problems of individual neighborhoods, or even families, in exchange for loyalty at the polls. The term refers to their ability to elect candidates or enact measures with mechanical efficiency and predictability.
- Wikipedia.
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity. The machine's power is based on the ability of the boss or group to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.
While these elements are common to most political parties and organizations, they are essential to political machines, which rely on hierarchy and rewards for political power, often enforced by a strong party whip structure. Machines sometimes have a political boss, typically rely on patronage, the spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control, and longstanding political ties within the structure of a representative democracy. Machines typically are organized on a permanent basis instead of a single election or event. The term "machine" usually is used by its reform-minded enemies in a pejorative sense. The terms "machine" and "boss" in the 19th century were negative epithets used by their reform-minded opponents. However in the 20th century these became standard terms for scholars and analysts who sometimes emphasized their positive contributions.
“Machine politics” is a phenomenon sometimes seen in an urban political context, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Political machines are characterized by tight organization and a strong centralized leadership, typically in the form of a “boss.”
They operate by dominating the political landscape. The “machine” gets its name from its ability to reliably, even mechanically, turn out the votes needed to get its members elected and its measures passed.
- The Rise and Fall of Urban Political Patronage Machines.
- Tammany Hall.
- Byrd Machine.
- TSHA: Boss Rule.
- The Origins of the Parr Machine in Duval County, Texas.
