human
Write a summary regarding political machines of the late 19 th and early 20 th century were based on patronage.
assistant
The political machines of the late 19 th and early 20 th century were based on patronage. The rapid urbanization brought changes that the boss and his/her machine should have coped with. When the level of corruption appeared to be too high, American citizens were ready to tolerate some "reasonable" level of corruption, but when the level appeared to be too high, they balked it.
human
Give me essay regarding political machines of the late 19 th and early 20 th century were based on patronage. Exapnd on the summary above. End with the words 'There was never'.
assistant
##Introduction
In the late 19 th and early 20 th century, the larger cities in the United States were governed according to the principles of political machines politics. This unofficial system of a political organization is based on patronage. The latter implies the ability to do favors when holding public office.
Political machines often had bosses. The rapid urbanization brought changes that the boss and his/her machine should have coped with. Especially it is true concerning the problems that the official city government could not solve. Still, there is a view according to which the political machines were parallel governments. Their function was to meet the needs of the public and the public, in its turn, offered its allegiance and votes (Urban Bosses and Machine Politics). Sometimes the system of something for something was supplemented by threats of various kinds towards those who attempted to step outside it.
##Main body
One of the functions of political machines was serving immigrants to the USA. For the immigrants, the machines were vehicles for political enfranchisement. The immigrants did not have a sense of civic duty and traded votes for power. Irish immigrants were the brightest example of how immigrants could benefit from the machines. Still, the party machines’ care of immigrants was not permanent, as machines were simply interested in maintaining a minimally winning amount of support. When this support was acquired there was no necessity any longer to recruit new members.
The constant corruption that was the basis for the political machines gave rise to many reform movements. American citizens were ready to tolerate some “reasonable” level of corruption, but when the level appeared to be too high, they balked it. Observing this pattern urban reformers had more power to succeed in seizing the power from the machines. They used to cost as a trigger for their reforms. But even successful reform movements did not always lead to efficient and less expensive government. During the Progressive Era, for instance, inflation led to costs that resulted in higher taxes (Urban Bosses and Machine Politics).
Still, reformers had other goals apart from the establishment of a less expensive government. The morale of the community was also a point of their concern. The reforms that they advocated were directed at prostitution, drinking, commercial issues, and leisure activities. The reform movement supported a set of social reforms such as factory safety laws, minimum-wage and maximum-hour laws, and protective legislation for women and children (Urban Bosses and Machine Politics).
##Conclusion
In general, the changes that the political machines and the reformists advocated were rather similar. Though the machines cared less regarding citizens’ morality than the reformists did, both systems of the political organization brought about improving the quality of urban life as it guaranteed them community support during elections. There was never a sharp line between the machines and the reformers that contributed to their long existence up to the twentieth century.