Politics in the Gilded Age can be characterized by corruption in all levels of government and the rise of political machines.
The Gilded Age was the name of a period in American history in the late 19th century that it is mostly remembered for its high levels of corruption and its big amount of political scandals.
Political machines were party organizations that existed in order to guarantee a certain amount of votes in exchange of favors, jobs or help to the less to the less fortunate.
