ABSTRACT
The reform movement that emerged in the 1880s and 1890s picked up steam at the turn of the century and won many victories through the 1920s, when it became less prominent, perhaps because much of its agenda had already been enacted and also because the Depression and World War II were more pressing concerns. But although reform has not occupied center stage in most communities since the 1920s, it does continue to play a part in local politics. Vestiges of reform organizations endure in many places, just as vestiges of machines survive in some, albeit as endangered species. The influence of the reformers also survives in the mind-set or culture of local politics. More significantly, however, the reform movement left in place governmental structures that shape politics in most communities today, nearly a century after they were first enacted. In some cases, these reform institutions had effects that were not intended; in others, the intended effects have frustrated elements of the communities and have been challenged by a new and different generation of reformers.
