Churches and Urban Government in Detroit and New York, 1895-1994

4. New York Protestantism and Appointments to City Offices

4 New York Protestantism and Appointments to City Offices As brought out in the previous chapter, in the late 1950s and ’60s New York’s Protestant Council became keenly interested in city politics and government, partly in response to events at the national level and partly in the wake of developments unique to the city. Whereas the earlier discussion emphasized the development of formal linkages between the church federation and municipal government—the Youth Board contract, the mayor’s religious leaders committee, and so on—there was also another, more informal, aspect to the evolving church-state relationship. It consisted of the federation’s campaign to overcome a perceived bias against Protestants in the appointment of individuals to fill city offices, and to insure that in the filling of such posts Protestant candidates were accorded full and fair consideration. The Protestant Council’s effort was representative of the ambiguities and dilemmas that any voluntary organization is likely to face when it commits itself to a campaign more related to high-stakes partisan politics than to the public policy concerns characteristic of interest groups. The following case study, therefore, illustrates an aspect of group politics not limited to the church-state relations field but broadly relevant to pressure group behavior generally. The discussion also illuminates the early growth of race consciousness on the part of the council, a traditionally “white” church organization with little prior interest in racial issues. Such consciousness, even though at this point but weakly developed and poorly articulated, would gain enhanced importance for the PC in the years to follow. 89 Background As the Protestant Council became increasingly involved with New York City government in the 1950s, its leaders were made aware of a pattern of political appointment that involved, from their standpoint, an apparent bias against Protestants in appointments to high-level city offices. Acting on that perception , PC leaders initiated a campaign to combat the perceived bias. The campaign was rationalized chiefly on two grounds. First, they believed that Protestantism has an ongoing role to play in areas of public policy deemed important from the standpoint of Christian ethics and morality. Those areas included, in particular, social welfare, public chaplaincies, the administration of justice, and public education at all levels (elementary, secondary, and higher). Second, the council desired to be of service to those in its constituency for whom a major city appointment was regarded as a prize, the securing of which would benefit (so it was argued) not just themselves and Protestantism but also the wider urban community. In a larger sense, the council’s involvement in the appointments area reflected a resolve on its part to reassert Protestantism ’s traditional influence in the New York metropolitan community. In so doing, the group proposed, in effect, to transcend the function usually defined by the term “interest group” (that is, concerned with promoting certain public policy objectives) and to affirm, also, a “status group” role (that is, concerned with promoting the aspirations of one particular population in competition with others). The council’s campaign in the policy-making arena paralleled those of other interest groups—a general pattern that two analysts of New York government , Wallace Sayre and Herbert Kaufman, allude to as follows: “One way for a group to be fairly sure the governmental decisions in which it is interested will coincide with its own preferences is to help pick the men who make them . . . the group instrumental in installing a man in office may then have a claim upon him that makes him responsive to its wishes” (Sayre and Kaufman, 1960: 489). Council activity in this area gained added legitimacy from the fact that Jewish and Catholic leaders were active on behalf of candidates for city appointments from their particular faiths (Sayre and Kaufman, 1960: 490). Impediments to Influence The council’s efforts to influence nominations confronted serious obstacles, and it was unclear at the outset that the group had much hope of success. The 90 Chapter 4 obstacles included the screening process that precedes the making of city appointments, which is fairly secretive; the political calculations and dealmaking occur behind closed doors where outside scrutiny is typically not possible . Having arrived at their decisions, the mayor and other elected officials invariably portray their choices as entirely merit-based, and challenges to their actions are not readily accepted...