Political Machines

Political Science 25510/45510

Winter Quarter 2004

 

Professor: Jeff Grynaviski

Office: Pick 528

Email: grynaviski@uchicago.edu

Webpage: http://home.uchicago.edu/~grynav

Phone: 702-2370

 

 

Course Description

 

Political machines were the dominant form of partisan organization in the U.S. for much of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In this course, we will investigate these organizations through two lenses. First, we will track the evolution of political machines, examining why they came about, how they maintained themselves, and why they declined. Second, we will examine the performance of machines as agents of representation and governance. Please note that given the social scientific sensibilities of the instructor, many of the readings in the course are quite technical. A student unwilling to take the time to puzzle through statistical tables or basic formal (read: mathematical) political theory should find another course.

 

 

Evaluative Criteria

 

Your deliverables for the class are negotiable. But for most students, your grades will be based on the following items:

 

-         2 x 2-page single-spaced response papers: each 10% of your grade.

o       Several students will be assigned papers each week with due dates determined the first week of classes. These papers will be used by the professor to set the agenda for the class each week.

 

-         Class Attendance and Participation: 30% of your grade.

o       You must come to class and talk intelligently about the assigned materials. A common pattern is to always come to class but only speak-up a few times per quarter. Someone following this pattern should expect no better than a C for participation.

 

-         Final Paper: 50 % of your grade.   

o       Approximately 25-page double-spaced paper about something related to the course. Get your topic approved by the professor. Due March 19th under my door by 9am.

 

 

Books The following are available for purchase at the Seminary Coop.

           

Erie, Rainbow’s End                                                   

Hofstadter, The Age of Reform                                   

Knight. Institutions and Social Conflict                     

McCaffery, When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia 

Miller, Managerial Dilemmas: The Political Economy of Hierarchy

Riordan, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall   

 

All other materials should be available through Regenstein Library’s reserve catalog.

 

 

Reading List  (subject to change—Texts not available from Seminary Coop are available through Regenstein Library’s reserve catalog)

 

January 5.         Organizational Session

 

Fiorina, 1980. “The Decline of Collective Responsibility,” Daedalus (e-reserve)

           

Bridges. A City in the Republic (optional, reserve)

 

 

January 12.       Introduction

 

Riordan, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall

 

Demsetz, “Amenity Potential, indivisibilities, and political competition.” In Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. Ed. Alt and Shepsle (e-reserve)

 

 

January 19.       Political Science and Political History

 

Burnham, “Pattern Recognition and ‘Doing’ Political History”

           

Aldrich, “Rational Choice Theory and the Study of American Politics”

           

Edelman, “The Social Psychology of Politics”

           

Huckfeldt and Beck, “Contexts, Intermediaries, and Political Behavior”

           

Stone, “Group Politics Reexamined: from Pluralism to Political Economy”

           

Orren and Skowronek, “Beyond the Iconography of Order”

           

                        In Dodd and Jillson, The Dynamics of American Politics (reserve)

 

 

January 26.       Elite Theory and the Philadelphia Machine

 

Lincoln Steffens. The Shame of the Cities. “Philadelphia: Corrupt and Contented.” (e-reserve)

 

Theoretical Orientation

Floyd Hunter, Community Power, chapters 1, 4 (e-reserve)

 

Bachrach and Baratz, “The Two Faces of Power” APSR (e-reserve)

 

Empirics

McCaffrey, When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia, excerpts TBA

 

Critiques of Elite Theory

Jack Walker, “A Critique of the Elitist Theory of Democracy.” APSR 1966 (e-reserve)

 

 

February 2.      Group Theory

 

Francis Parkman. 1878. “The Failure of Universal Suffrage.” North American Review. July and August: 1-20. (e-reserve)

 

Alexander Winchell. 1883. “The Experiment of Universal Suffrage.” North American Review. February: 119-134. (e-reserve)

 

Theoretical Orientation

Merton—“Manifest and Latent Functions: Toward the codification of functional analysis in sociology.” In Social Theory and Social Structure, especially pages 71-82 (e-reserve)

 

Glazer and Moynihan—“The Irish.” In Beyond the Melting Pot (1970) (e-reserve)

 

Dahl, Who Governs? (optional, reserve)

 

            Empirics

McCaffrey, When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia, excerpts TBA

 

Critiques of group theory

Rothman, “Systematic Political Theory: Observations of Group Approach” American Political Science Review 1960 pp. 1-33 (optional, e-reserve)

 

Odegard. 1958. “A Group Basis of Politics: A New Name for an Old Myth.” WPQ 689-702 (optional, e-reserve)

 

 

February 9.      Distributive Politics. Selective Benefits and Participation

 

            Salter, Boss Rule. “The Division Leader” and “Sketches—Tony Nicollo” (e-reserve)

 

Theoretical Orientation

Wilson. 1961. “The Economy of Patronage.” Journal of Political Economy (e-reserve)

 

Olson, Logic of Collective Action, Chapters 1-2 (e-reserve)

 

Empirics

Terry Nichols Clark, “The Irish Ethic and the Spirit of Patronage” pp. 327-353. Ethnicity (1975) (reserve)

 

White, The Jacksonians: A Study in Administration excerpts (optional)

 

The Public Ethos Controversy

Banfield and Wilson “Public Regardingness as a Value Premise in Voting Behavior” APSR 1964) (e-reserve)

 

Wolfinger, 1965. “Development and Persistence of Ethnic Voting.” APSR (e-reserve)

 

Wolfinger and Field. 1966. “Political Ethos and the Structure of City Government.” APSR 306-326 (e-reserve)

 

            Wilson and Banfield. 1971. “Political Ethos Revisited.” APSR 65: 1048-1062 (e-reserve)

 

 

February 16.    Organization Theory

 

Shefter. “The Emergence of the Political Machine: An Alternate View.” In

Hawley, Theoretical Perspectives on Urban Politics (e-reserve).

 

Miller, Managerial Dilemmas: The Political Economy of Hierarchy

 

Kreps. “Corporate culture and economic theory.” In Perspective on Positive Political Economy (optional, (e-reserve))

 

 

February 23.    The Life-cycle of machines

 

Erie. Rainbow’s End.

 

Brown and Halaby. “Machine Politics in America, 1870-1945. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 17: 587-612 (e-reserve).

 

 

March 1.          Distributional Conflict

 

Knight. Institutions and Social Conflict

 

 

March 8.          The Politics of Reform

 

Hofstadter, The Age of Reform

 

Scott. 1969. “Corruption, Machine Politics, and Political Change.” APSR 1142-1158 (e-reserve).

 

Extended Reading List--(mostly things I haven’t read)

 

Allswang, John M. 1986. Bosses, Machines, and Urban Voters.

Dahl—Who Governs?

Gosnell, Machine Politics: Chicago Model

Lowi, At the Pleasure of the Mayor: Patronage and Power in New York City, 1898-1958.

Johnston, Michael. 1979. “Patrons and Clients, Jobs and Machines: A Case study of the uses of patronage.” APSR 73: 385-398.

Kent, The Great Game of Politics (1926) for Chicago and the Nation

Shefter, Political Parties and the State

 

Alesina, Baqir, and Easterly (2000) “Redistributive Public Employment.” Journal of Urban Economics

Alesina and Rodrik. 1994. “Distributive Politics and Economic Growth.” QJE

Dixit and Londregan “The Determinants of Success of Special Interests in Redistributive Politics.” Journal of Politics, Vol. 58, No. 4. (Nov., 1996), pp. 1132-1155.

Dixit and Londregan. “Redistributive Politics and Economic Efficiency.” 89, No. 4. (Dec., 1995), pp. 856-866.

Gary W. Cox; Mathew D. McCubbins. 1986. “Electoral Politics as a Redistributive Game.” Journal of Politics, Vol. 48, No. 2. (May, 1986), pp. 370-389.

Edward L. Glaeser & Andrei Shleifer. 2003. “The Curley Effect.” Quarterly Journal of Economics

Alesina & Baqir & Easterly, 1999. "Public Goods And Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114 (4) pp. 1243-1284.

George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 115 (3) pp. 715-753


Stone, Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta: 1946-1988.

Elkin, Stephen. 1987. City and Regime in the American Republic

 

Gimpel, James. 1993. “Reform-Resistant and Reform-Adopting Machines: The Electoral Foundations of Urban Politics, 1910-1930.” PRQ 46: 371-382.

Finegold, Kenneth. 1995. Experts and Politicians: Reform Challenges to Machine Politics in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago.

 

Fish, The Civil Service and Patronage

Fowler, The Cabinet Politician: The Postmasters General, 1829-1909

Van Riper, History of the United States Civil Service

Hoogenboom, Outlawing the Spoils: A history of the civil service reform movement

Crenson, The Federal Machine: Beginnings of Bureaucracy in Jacksonian America