Political Monopolies in American Cities by Jessica Trounstine

Author:Jessica Trounstine [Trounstine, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology, Urban, Political Science, Public Policy, City Planning & Urban Development
ISBN: 9780226812830
Google: FRM4AAAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2009-05-15T03:56:31+00:00

6

Monopoly Collapse

RICHARD J. DALEY, boss of the Chicago political machine, won his last mayoral election in 1975 with more than 77 percent of the total vote, a stunning margin of victory. In the Democratic primary Daley had garnered nearly 58 percent of the total, which would appear to signal that he was in a position of strength. But the fact that Daley had to run in a primary election at all suggests otherwise. The 1975 primary was the first contest within the Democratic Party in twenty years. Daley faced three candidates: a liberal Jewish alderman; a white law-and-order-focused former state’s attorney; and a black state senator. Although Daley maintained the machine organization throughout the two elections, he lost crucial support from Jews, labor leaders, African Americans, and white ethnics. The total number of votes Daley received was smaller than the total number of registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot at all (Chicago Tribune 1975, A2). Cracks in the machine were visible. When Daley died the following year, the cracks became chasms.

Unable to maintain a unified front, the Democratic Party began to splinter from within. At the same time, an assault on patronage hiring practices by an activist court, mobilization of the black community, and coordination of anti-machine voters spelled defeat for the monopoly. Michael Bilandic, elected in 1977, would be the last monopoly mayor to serve Chicago during this time period. In the 1979 primary, Jane Byrne challenged Bilandic, the machine’s choice candidate, and won. Her victory signaled the end of the monopoly period. In 1983, when Byrne and Richard M. Daley (Boss Daley’s son) split the white vote in the Democratic primary, Harold Washington became the first African American mayor of Chicago, a victory made possible by the collapse of the monopoly.

San Jose’s monopoly came to an end at roughly the same time. Throughout the 1960s, the city grew at a tremendous pace, led by a reform coalition that had dominated governance for decades. The city manager remained the most powerful political official in the city, and the council had become corrupt, exchanging policy for bribes (McEnery interview 2003). Reform leader Dutch Hamann retired in 1969 on the eve of major changes in the political landscape. Minority residents made up an increasingly large proportion of the population and in the late 1960s began to more forcefully demand inclusion in the governing coalition. Simultaneously, neighborhoods were grumbling about the negative effects of sprawling development. The monopoly responded in small ways, drafting a general plan and appointing a few scattered Asian and Latino officeholders. A number of candidates supportive of controlled growth won election to the city council. But the reform monopoly managed to maintain a majority and control for another fifteen years.

Then, in 1977 the reform coalition lost the loyalty of the city newspaper when the paper’s Florida-based corporate office hired a new publisher who believed that more diverse views should be represented in the media. He also questioned the intimacy of the relationship between developers and government.

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