Jon ZurinskasSika AbbeySean HilasMike MariniTemitope Quadri

IntroductionHow Political Machines Work

Background of Political Machines in Chicago

Strength of Political Machines Today

Barack Obama and the Chicago Political Machine

Chicago Introduction• Population (2012) – 2.7 Million (9.4 Million Metro) - Peak Population: 3.6 Million (1950)• Largest city in Illinois • 3rd Largest in the United States.• Nicknamed the Windy City

http://www.gallagher.com/art_photos/chicago_skyline2.jpg

Local Government.• Local Legislature is comprised of 50 wards represented by Aldermen.

• An Alderman is popularly elected by their constituency to serve a four year term.

• Sessions meet monthly , the presiding officer of the Council is the Mayor of Chicago who is currently Rahm Emanuel

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Chicago Demographics2010

White: 45%Black: 32.9%

American Indian & Alaska Native: 0.5%Asian: 5.5%

Hispanic: 28.9Reporting two or more

races: 2.7%

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Ethnic & Racial Divides by colorWhite: RedBlack: BlueAsian: GreenHispanic: OrangeOther: GrayEach Dot represents 25 People

What a Political Machine is…A political machine is

a party organization that is headed by a single boss or a small autocratic group that commends enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state.

What Political Machines DoA political machine is a party organization

that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives: money, political jobs and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity.

"Political machine" started as a grass-roots campaign to gain the patronage needed to win the modern election. Having strong patronage, these "clubs" were the main driving force in gaining and getting out the "straight party vote" in the election districts.

Chicago Political Machines Background

The second half of the 19th century and the first thirty years of the 20th saw great ethic and class divides among political parties

Migration patterns of different groups further contributed to such division

Several mayors were implicated in illegal activities, but never convicted

Organized crime was allowed to flourish, giving way to figures such as Al Capone

The Machine The Democratic Machine

came into being under the leadership of Anton Cermak

Bohemian immigrant with a working class background

Was elected mayor in 1931, defeating incumbent Republican William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson

Brought representatives in from the German, Jewish, Polish and Czech communities

Was assassinated in 1933

Kelly-Nash After Cermak’s death, Democratic

party chairman Patrick A. Nash pushed for Edward J. Kelly

As mayor, Kelly was a staunch supporter of the New Deal and used federal funds to better the city

Acquired additional financial resources from organized crime for turning a blind eye

Worked to better the living situation for Chicago’s growing black community by favoring integrated schools and public housing

Helped set up the party’s alliance with ethnic and racial minorities

Changes In 1947, Kelly was forced to

retire by his own party, because of his progressive views

His replacement was Martin H. Kennelly

Served two terms, but was ousted in 1955, because of being considered too independent

Replacement was Richard J. Daley, who ended up serving until his death in 1976

Dynasty Under Daley, the Cook County

machine gained heavy control over Cook County

Used 35,000 city and county jobs to his advantage

Was able to have local/ward problems fixed effectively

Encouraged growth through construction of various buildings, including O’Hare International Airport

Created many construction jobs

Was more conservative in regards to racial matters

Slight Shift The late ‘70s and early ‘80s

two different candidates emerged for mayor

Jane Margaret Byrne became the first female mayor in 1979

Reform based, but did live up to campaign promises

Was defeated in 1983 via a three way election by Harold Washington, the city’s first black mayor

Was reelected in 1987, but died of a heart attack only months later

Current Chicago Political MachineSince 1972, 80 officials, including 4

governors, one mayor, and 27 aldermen have been convicted of a crime.

Governor Ryan- Received 6 years for Racketeering and Fraud.

Governor Blagojevich- 14 year sentence for corruption.

Corruption under Mayor Daley (1989-2011)

Patronage shift from ethnic communities to interest groups, corporations, and unions.

Hired Truck ScandalJames Duff Scandal

Corruption with the City CouncilIn the past 35 years, 30 aldermen have been

convicted of federal crimes. Use of “Pay to Play SchemesActing as a Rubber Stamp for the Mayor.

Barack Obama and the Chicago Political Machine

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• Factors for Success - Mayor Richard M. Daley (1989- 2011)

•Financial connections• Professional work connections• Gave jobs to current Political Machine members• Started as a community organizer in Chicago

QuestionsDo you think current the current mayor, Rahm

Emmanuel, will continue the same practices of previous mayors?

What tendencies/characteristics does President Obama have which show his Chicago background?

What may have allowed for the Byrne/Washington break in the Irish, white male political dominance over the mayor’s office?

SourcesAllswang, J. M. (1971). A House for All Peoples: Ethnic Politics

in Chicago, 1890–1936.Biles, R. (1995). Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the

Governing of Chicago.Chicago (city), Illinois . (2011, December 23). US Census.

Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/ qfd/ states/ 17/ 1714000.html

City Council, Your Ward & Alderman. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cityofchicago.org/ city/ en/ about/ council.html

Developing Government Accountability to the People. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chicagodgap.org/ aldermen

Engber, D. (2006, September 8). How did Chicago get to be so corrupt? Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/ articles/ news_and_politics/ recycled/ 2008/ 12/ why_is_chicago_so_corrupt.html

Erie, S. P. (1988). Rainbow’s End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840–1985.

Continued Gradel, T. J., Simpson, D., & Zimelis, A. (2009, February). Curing

Corruption in Illinois: Anti-Corruption Report (Rep. No. 1). Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science.

Illinois has long legacy of public corruption . (2008, December 9). Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ id/ 28141995/ ns/ us_news-crime_and_courts/ t/ illinois-has-long-legacy-public-corruption/

Lizza, R. (2008, July 21). Making It: How Chicago shaped Obama. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/ reporting/ 2008/ 07/ 21/ 080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all

Novak, T., & Warmbir, S. (2005, September 1). Idle Trucks: Mob ties, kickbacks, official corruption tied to Chicago’s Hired Truck Program. The IRE Journal, 12-13. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ ehost/ pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?sid=e35b5e02-133c-44dd-a808-fd6a8b61f78b%40sessionmgr104&vid=2&hid=105

O’Connor, M., & Gibson, R. (2005, January 11). Duff pleads guilty--for 3 hours. Chicago Tribune . Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/ 2005-01-11/ news/ 0501110457_1_fraud-and-other-charges-guilty-prosecutors

Continued Schaper, D. (2007, November 6). Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan

Heading to Prison. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/ templates/ story/ story.php?storyId=16051850

Simpson, R., Adeoye, O., Bliss, D., Navratil, D., & Raines, R. (2004). The New Daley Machine 1989-2004. Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu/ depts/ pols/ ChicagoPolitics/ newdaleymachine.pdf

Spielman, F. (2012, January 24). City watchdog accuses Emanuel administration of stymying probes . Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from http://www.suntimes.com/ news/ politics/ 10189281-418/ city-watchdog-accuses-emanuel-administration-of-stymying-probes.html

Taylor, Q. (1972, Spring). The Chicago Political Machine and Black-Ethnic Conflict and Accommodation. Polish American Studies, 29(1), 40-66. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/ 20147848

Top 50 Cities by Population and Rank. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ ipa/ A0763098.html

Why is Chicago called the Windy City? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wiki.answers.com/ Q/ Why_is_Chicago_called_the_Windy_City