political machine
Patronage-driven organization
A political machine is an organization that controls a party or government through patronage, favors, and tight discipline rather than ideology or policy.
The boss distributes jobs, contracts, and services to supporters who deliver votes in return.
Tammany Hall was New York's notorious political machine for over a century.
The term usually carries connotations of corruption and backroom dealing.
Illicit political gain
- briberyCorrupt payment for influence
- kickbacksIllegal return payments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- racketeeringConducting illegal business schemes
extortion · money laundering · malfeasance · misappropriation · scandal · rigging · payola · underhanded
Awarding posts to supporters
- appointmentsScheduled times for meetings
- ward bossLocal party organizer
- favorsPreferences or courtesies
- quid pro quoReciprocal exchange of value
backscratching · jobs · contracts · sinecures · handouts · entitlements · beneficiary · reciprocity
Workplace superior
- strongmanPowerful lifter or despot
- controlAuthority to direct
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
- cloutInformal power or punch
authority · sway · coercion · intimidation · manipulation · stranglehold · leverage · muscle
Gathering for celebration
- apparatusEquipment for a task
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
- networkInterconnected system
system · bureaucracy · establishment · institution · committee · administration · precinct · ward
Formally registering a choice
- turnoutNumber attending an event
- ballotsVoting forms
- primariesIntraparty nomination contests
- precinctsBounded administrative areas
constituents · electorate · registration · mobilization · canvassing · get-out-the-vote · poll workers · ticket
graft
Illicit political gain
- briberyCorrupt payment for influence
- kickbacksIllegal return payments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
racketeering · extortion · money laundering · malfeasance · misappropriation · scandal · rigging · payola · underhanded · loopholes
spoils system
Awarding posts to supporters
- appointmentsScheduled times for meetings
- ward bossLocal party organizer
- favorsPreferences or courtesies
quid pro quo · backscratching · jobs · contracts · sinecures · handouts · entitlements · beneficiary · reciprocity · emoluments
boss
Workplace superior
clout · authority · sway · coercion · intimidation · manipulation · stranglehold · leverage · muscle · enforcers
party
Gathering for celebration
- apparatusEquipment for a task
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
network · system · bureaucracy · establishment · institution · committee · administration · precinct · ward · ring
voting
Formally registering a choice
precincts · constituents · electorate · registration · mobilization · canvassing · get-out-the-vote · poll workers · ticket · slate
- Gilded AgeGilded Age, robber baron, robber barons, Carnegie, Rockefeller
- shadow powerpuppet master, puppeteer, string puller, string pulling, string-pulling
- corruptioncorruption, graft, kickbacks, bribery, bribes
- elite poweroligarchy, plutocracy, oligarch, plutocrat, oligarchs
- patronagepatrons, benefactors, sponsors, donors, backers
political machinegrassroots democracy
Political engagement from ordinary citizens
grassroots movement · participatory democracy · direct democracy · civic engagement · mass movement
political machinereform movement
Organized push for systemic change
merit system · merit-based system · civic virtue · political reform · accountability
political machinepopular uprising
Collective revolt against authority
social movement · mass movement · political revolution · protest movement
machine, policy, politics, machinery, mechanical, mechanism, political, politician, machinist