What was the impact of political machines on us cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

As cities and their problems grew rapidly the political environment changed. No longer did politicians run small manageable cities. These were big cities with big city problems and the government structures designed to cope with these problems grew. As the government grew it became the livelihood for many professional politicians. Some would argue that these politicians were corrupt, they would argue that they provided a needed service. Political Machines were orgainizations that provided social services and jobs in exchange foir votes. The machines were run by a boss who in turn had precinct captains, ward captains and district captains underneath him. All of them made sure that the poor has what they needed. They also made sure the poor voted ... for them!