Democratic Party Of Cook County

Donkey at top with red stripes. Red, white and blue button.

The Democratic Party of Cook County represents 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 townships of Cook County. It has dominated politics in Chicago since the 1930s.

Like all political machines, it relies on a tight organizational structure of ward committeemen and precinct captains to elect candidates. Political and social scientists and historians interpreting the political history of Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois in terms of machine politics focus on the shifting power relationships between diverse ethnic constituencies, on the spoils system, the role of public office in the personal enrichment of participants, and on cooperation between participants on the election and re-election of sympathetic candidates.