Question

Why did poor residents have positive feelings about political machines?

a
In their dirty dealings, political machines helped improved the neighborhoods
b
The political machines gave land to many of the poor residents.
c
The political machines lowered the taxes of its citizens
d
With their dirty money, political machines bribed city contractors.

Answer 1

The correct answer is A. Poor residents had positive feelings about political machines because, in their dirty dealings, political machines helped improved the neighborhoods.

Step-by-step explanation:

A political machine was a system of unequal personal dependencies in political apparatuses between influential people and their clients. They functioned through the allocation of offices, behind-the-scenes control and long-lasting political ties within the framework of representative democracy. The key to the political machine was protection: being a public servant entailed the ability to do people services, and also the possibility of political corruption.

Thus, many political machines used the needs of the most deprived or vulnerable sectors of society as a tool to capture votes: through the satisfaction of their needs and patronage, they improved their quality of life in exchange for their political support in the elections.