Unlike most cities which supported political machines, Memphis, Tennessee, lacked a large population of deprived ethnic voters. The success of the Crump machine in such an environment suggests that factors other than ethnicity per se account for electoral support of machines. With aggregate social and electoral data for Memphis, this study tests four alternate explanations of machine support. The results of regression analysis indicate that the Crump machine knitted together a coalition of blacks and white ethnics. These groups shared a status as outsiders in the dominant culture of the city, and such social estrangement, more so than other factors, probably accounts for their distinctive political behavior.
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