Bossism, in the history of the United States (particularly in the Gilded Age), is a system of political control centering about a single powerful figure (the boss) and a complex organization of lesser figures (the machine) bound together by reciprocity in promoting financial and social self-interest. Bossism was a very large issue in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, where machines such as Tammany Hall controlled politics in their regions through influencing financing of campaigns and influenc… (More on Bossism)