book summary or chapters explaination please
Irish-Americans andthe Dilenmas of U rban Machine Politics
Erie’s work; Rainbow’s End details the rise, development, and diminishing of the Irish-A merican
political machines in six municipalities, Chicago included. The author explains the political
device based on the perspectives of economics and ethnicities. Erie (5) revealsthat the machines
failed to incorporate other ethnicities and at the same time failed in the facilitation of financial
flexibility for the Irish.
The author notes material rewards like minicipal services succeeded in persuading the
populace to back the machines either as activists or voters. However, the availability of those
incentives was limited, and it implies that leaders cut the demands on resources or enlarge their
supply. Alliances between the state and national governments acted to increase the number of
resources whereas the market reduced by giving non-supporters sy nbol ic credit rather than
practical resources. The machine felt threatened because the mobilized support by minority
ethnicities meant that the new voters could request more than what was available (Erie 9).
The machines’ capability changed with time and from city to city through the design of
conducive exchange proportion between applicants and assets (Erie 14). Erie mentions four
distinct periods involved with city politics: 1840-1896, 1896-1928, 1928-1950, and 1950-1985.
For each stage, the urban cultural structures and strategic frameworks cooperated to develop
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machines with a unique democratic alliance and set of strategies (Erie 19). City politics failed in
the exchange of voters support and material properties when considering the opposing side. The
black revolts and the Progressive Era also desired substantial assets. He explains that the
cutbacks initiated by President Reagan cutbacks ignited the revolution by the blacks against the
machine. The black politics, however, may have risen from nontangible rewards like civil rights
movements and the church.
