This unique text assesses the state of patronage in the United States today through detailed case studies of large scale patronage operations in Chicago, in the state of Illinois, and in suburban Nassau County in Long Island, New York. Freedman examines how these patronage systems operated and managed to persist long after patronage was supposed to have ended. She also details how reformers working through the courts have affected these systems and altered the practice of patronage. The cases shed light on contemporary party politics and the activities of political machines.