Los Angeles Political Development: 1870-1939

The late-nineteenth century in the United States was a period of rapid social transformation (Lee 539). The old political institutions, largely adapted to a static, agrarian society, were no longer adequate for the needs of a modern industrial society. Class conflicts developed as rapid economic growth brought with it trusts and monopolies, growing labor unrest, and a corrupting alliance of government and business·government by patronage Large-scale immigration led to the development of urban slums, inadequacies in public services, and a "proliferation of machine politics" (Lee 539). Traditional societal elites felt threatened as the principles of "limited majoritarianism and elite governance were challenged by the growing demand for mass participation" (Lee 539). Populists were equally discontented as the concentration of economic power led to fundamental political inequality (Ross 1991).

The major administrative reforms in the public sector in this period were the civil service reform movement in

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zin 377). Unionists "unstintingly yoked their fortunes to candidates, parties, and legal reforms that promised to make the government more responsive to working-class concerns" (Kazin 377). Until the First World War, white workers in California's urban centers often had a so-called labor party for which to vote (Lewis 210-226). Labor gave such parties "at least a plurality of their votes, although none of the chosen vehicles was a frequent winner or dedicated itself to social change once in office" (Kazin 377). When the labor unions could not mount an independent ticket, most union leaders aligned themselves with one of the major parties and, in return, received nominations, and appointments for themselves, and legislation to benefit their members·patronage (Kazin 378). Political involvement flowed from the labor movement's claim to be the representative of all white working-class Californians (Kazin 378). The campaign by labor for Asian exclusion required continuous pressure on office-holders in both Sacramento and Washington contributed to this self-image, but it was not the sole influence. Craft unionists regularly participated in municipal campaigns in which the issue of Chinese and Japanese immigration played only a mi
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Approximate Word count = 2708
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)