Political Machines

The political machines were organized groups of dishonest politicians whose goals were to take control of the city government in order to make the leaders of the organization rich. The top man in political machines was called the “Boss.” Political machines developed in major in the east coast cities in the 19th century. The power of the political machine tremendously increased and dominated in most cities, but its importance started to decline after 1900s.
The county committee had the power and ability to dominate the electoral politics and municipal government within its jurisdiction. They had control over the money and votes needed to win the election. They had major influence with elected government officials, including mayors, prosecutors, judges etc. These political machines were not checked by the police or any higher authority because of how powerful they were in society. This was not fair to the citizens because if the citizens voted for a particular person to run as a mayor, or other government

Robert Dahl came up with meritorious pluralist theory about democracy. His case study was in New Haven, Connecticut in 1941-1959. In his well-known book Who Governs? Democracy and Power in American Study, in his book Dahls argue, “Political power in the United States is pluralistic”. He rebutted theories created by Floyd Hunter, who argued that a small elite had key positions of power. In Dahl’s view, a number of groups were in competition with each other rather than a small elite group. He also believed that education, urban development, and internal politics are separate. Dahl made it known that the minimal set of political institutions necessary for modern democratic government are elected officials that are elected in fair conditions. Dahl believed democratic governments have expanded tremendously and the protection of rights, privileges, and entitlements has expanded