_________ C HAP T E R 6 ______---'__ Political Incorporation and Political Extrusion: Party Politics and Social Forces in Postwar New York THE MOVEMENT of new social forces into the political system is one of the central themes in the study of American political development on both the national and local levels. For example, Samuel P. Huntington has character­ ized the realignment of 1800 as marking "the ascendancy of the agrarian Republicans over the mercantile Federalists, 1860 the ascendancy of the industrializing North over the plantation South, and 1932 the ascendancy of the urban working class over the previously dominant business groups."! And the process of ethnic succession-the coming to power of Irish and German immigrants, followed by the Italians and Jews, and then by blacks and Hispanics- is a major focus of most analyses of the development of American urban politics. Most accounts of political incorporation, however, are based on an analy­ sis of only one face of a two-sided process. The process through which new social forces gain a secure position in American politics is simultaneously a process of political exclusion. This process involves not simply a conflict between the new group and established forces over whether or not the new­ comers will gain representation, but also a struggle over precisely who will assume leadership of the previously excluded group. Established political forces are not indifferent to the outcome of these leadership struggles, and the defeat of potential leaders who are regarded as unacceptable by estab­ lished forces is the price that emergent groups must pay to gain access to po\,ver. After discussing the linkages among political incorporation, political re­ alignments, and political exclusion, the sections below provide evidence for this argument by analyzing the process through which-and the terms upon which-Jews, Italians, and blacks gained a secure position for themselves in New York City politics in the 1940$ and 1950s. To be sure, the incOI]Joration of these groups occurred under conditions-a Cold 'War abroad and rvfcCar­ thyism at home-that scan'ely were typical in the history ofAmerican urban politics. The extrusion of ideologically unacceptable contenders fur the lead­ ership of previously excluded groups, however, is a characteristic aspect of the process of political incorporation in American cities.2 It is instructive 198 CHAPTEH 6 POL ITJ CAL J i\' con I' 0 H A TI 0 i\' AND EXT R U S ION 199 , d" the \l1c:Glrthy era this extrusion was that in the nation's larg~st clttY ,UII~hg legl's'lativ~ hearings and blacklists but I, h d' tl m'1II1 no tl1[OU' , f' ities, becausc there are variOlls ways in which the substantive illterests of a accomp IS e ll1 1e, , , ,M, f' "h politics The experience 0 I I h thc non11'11 ll1ShtutIOns 0 pal / ' group can be understood und advanced, Thus at dillcrent times and places, rat ler t Houg " " I thus reve'lls how these institutions are serving the intcrests of blacks in local politics has been understood to mean New York during the poshva~' pel110; , f ,,', social changes and pol,itical able to maintain themselves ll1 t Ie ace 0 maJol the protection of civil rights, the provision of sodal welfare benefits, and turmoil. both less intrusive and more aggressive patrolling by the police in black neighborhoods, Finally, a previously exduded group may-or may not- be able to POLITICAL INCORPORATION, CRITICAL REALIGNMENTS, achieve a secure claim on the political benefits its members receive, Again, AND POLITICAL EXTRUSION blacks provide the clearest example, Although freedmen in the South gained a !lumber of dvil and political rights during Reconstruction, the political ' , ' '~omplex than is com- coalitions ofwhich they were a part fell from power on both the national and The phenomenon of political entirely homoge­ . " d I the first pilncorpOIc'~atJlo:(lll'cISesma(:'~Cn~ver ace so I II " , state levels in the 1870s, In su.bsequent decades, blacks were driven from monly recogI1lze , n , " I ' t the politic']1 svstem on terms d ' ,be ll1corporatee ll1 0 , " politics and deprived of many of the rights they formerly had been granted, neous, an a gIOUp may , , its members than others, For exam- This suggests that it is useful to distinguish hehveen a group's gaining repre­ that are of gr~ate: advant,age t~) ~~me ~l~ I the Republican party of the 1790s sentation and its achieVing full incorporation into politics, according to pIe, the agrarIan ll1 terests repl esentee ) I ' , .', I farmers Broadly . , d I' I tl 'ubsistence anc commcl cIa , whether the group's newly won position in the political system is secure or insecure, were compnseI I, 0 I lO'Old 1 S Repu II') Ican . Wll1,' g of th",. p'ut), ! slloke for subsis- speaking, t le rae Ica OJ ',I', t'on of American II ' ~ d the commercIa Iza I Not only is the phenomenon ofpolitical incorporation more complex than tence farmers, who genera y oppose " I " I't'cs The Republican d ' .. III democratIc Il1 t lell po I I , is often recognized, so too is the process through which it occurs, Bringing society and who were ra lca ) d ' k !', , mmercial fanners ,- 'the other han ' , spo e WI co a new group into the political system has the potential of disrupting estab­ party s moderate Wll1g, on 'I' t ' the United States and lished patterns of political precedence and public policy, Conse(lUently, the 'h c, I ed the building of a commerCIa socle y I~ Id 1 " , , W 0 Ja\or f' , t th 'lt ll1, R'IC 'h' ,II( ,I EllI's ,swords . , wou le le­ politicians who benefit most from those patterns are not likely to sponsor the creation 0 a governmen , .' d' I ' t lIed b)! the peollle," It I I' tl ' and Imme wte y con ro the incorporation of new groups, Political outsiders, on the other hand­ sponsible to )lit not e Irec ) , bl" -most iml)Ortantlv, I I, 'h' f the moderate Repu Icans , counterelites, insurgents, ref<lrmers-have less to lose by bringing new was under the eae els Ip 0 " t '''ere incorporated into groups into politics, 'I I" th'lt 'Igtranan ll1 el '~stse , " Tefferson an d [\' a( Ison- , , 11 " d'd t ndertake to ' " , 1800 I fBce thc Repu) Icans I no u Such counterelites are most likely to encourage the entry of new groups American' poiItl(':sh (' m 'n. t',n on or0 d'"ISllmn tl'e the" n']tl'onal government (as the into politics during periods of political crisis, because their entry at such a dem()(.:ratIze t e ,ons I u I I I,k d p(ln 'm amhitious program of time ean contribute to the toppling of the existing regime, Moreover, it is at P ' d' 1 "t ~ I) 'md t ley em XII e u, c 'lrty s ra Ica S Wdn ec , ' k f I ' lJ 'ted States pro. ' , ,1, ,t ring the Ban 0 t le 111 " , times of crisis that the members of excluded groups are most likely to mobi­ commercial development-I ec 1dl e I' > t. 'md ultimately en­ ' t, extensive program of interna Improvemen s" ' " , , lize politically, because during such periods the incumbent regime no posmg dn " "fl' I deed bv i:1voring commercIal over subSIstence longer appears beyond challenge or change, For these reasons the process acting a protectIVe tall,' n " 'h J ff' , ' 'onian Republicans laid the elemen ts of the agranan sectOI, t e , e el S " 3 of incorporating new groups into American politics has heen closely linked d ,k f r the J'lcksonian RevolutIOn of the 1820s, to the nation's periodic episodes oJpoliticalllpheaval aBel realignment. groun WOI 0 , , '. f ' " hich a social group--even In addition, there is a WIde vanety ° w,lys m w , , IT" H'mna Political mobilization that OCCurs at times of crisis, and often outside es­ . , r' I can gain representatIOn ll1 po I ICS, , tablished institutional channels, is not readily controlled:" It provides nu­ a relatively homogeneous gl,Ol Pd K I' illS or modes of representa- merous contenders for the leadership of the excluded group-party politi­ Pitkin, for one, has ,di~tillgUlsh~ l:l~ll:~~ ~t~l~st~~tive , 4 For example, blacks cians, social movement leaders, radical ideologues, religious and communal tion: formal, descnptlve, sym 0 IC, 'b ," the right to I 'esented at various times and places y g<1mmg ' f leaders-with the opportunity to seek dominance, These contenders may 0 • have )eenh rep'I t. ~ t 'md/or e IectlOn ' 0 f'll') dC, k I'epresentatives to pubhc , have substantially different views ofwhere the tl'lle interests of the group lie, vote, t e appOll1 n:e,n , f h t '1 t' · 'blacks have made to the nation s fi II "~' t ItIOn 0 t e con n)u IOns , , Actors in the broader political system who seek to put together a majority ce, PU) IC Iecogn, , ", , 'rve the interests of racial mmon­ coalition are not indifferent to the outcome of sllch leadership stmggles aBnd the the full range of possibil­ I~fetIes,, u t evenelpl~tc'k~II,nll I ,esn}()l~!f~~:I~~~:~~,:I:I~:lerstates, [I Within the previously excluded group, They have an interest in the defeat of those contenders whose behavior or views are inconsistent with the princi­ 200 C HAP T E R 6 POL IT I CAL INC 0 1\ PO n i\ Tl 0 NAN 0 EXT R U S ION 201 pies around which they are seeking to forge a majority coalition, and in the tics.