The group was within limits a genuine example of social democracy, and was founded on mutual understanding, good-will, and assistance.

The leader used his official and unofficial power to obtain jobs for his followers.

He succored them when in need; he sometimes protected them against the invidious activity of the police or the prosecuting attorneys; he provided excursions and picnics for them in hot weather; he tied them to himself by a thousand bonds of interest and association; he organized them into a clan, who supported him blindly at elections in return for a deal of personal kindliness and a multitude of small services; he became their genuine representative, whether official or not, because he represented their most vital interests and satisfied their most pressing and intimate needs.
The general method of political organization indicated above was perfected in the two decades succeeding the Civil War.

The American democracy was divided politically into a multitude of small groups, organized chiefly for the purpose of securing the local and individual interests of these groups and their leaders, and supported by local and personal feeling, political patronage, and petty "graft." These groups were associated with both parties, and merely made the use of partisan ties and cries to secure the cooeperation of more disinterested voters.
The result was that so far as American political representation was merely local, it was generally corrupt, and it was always selfish.

The leader's power depended absolutely on an appeal to the individual, neighborhood, and class interests of his followers.