Patronage

In the Chicagoland area, patronage is a familiar word that describes how the political machine stays in power. It accurately portrays how elected officials from the municipal, state and federal level get and remain in office.

Patronage creates a situation in which people are more concerned with power than service. In Chicago, it's the Democrats who live and die by the phenomenon. It's not surprising because they are the majority party.

On a national level, the majority party has taken their patronage international...all the way to Iraq.