Read Chapter X, "Municipal Government," in J. Allen Smith's 1907 revealing book, The Spirit of American Government:

On Municipal Government, Part A

On Municipal Government, Part B

On Municipal Government, Part C

On Municipal Government, Part D

“The powerful corporate interests engaged in the exploitation of municipal franchises are securely entrenched behind a series of constitutional and legal checks on the majority which makes it extremely difficult for public opinion to exercise any effective control over them.”

--- J. Allen Smith, The Spirit of American Government, 1907, p. 289

“It is easily seen that the removal of property qualifications for voting and office-holding has had the effect of retarding the movement toward universal municipal home rule.  Before universal suffrage was established the property-owning class was in control of both state and city government. This made state interference in local affairs unnecessary for the protection of property. But with the introduction of universal suffrage the conservative element which dominated the state government naturally favored a policy of state interference as the only means of protecting the property-owning class in the cities. In this they were actively supported by the corrupt politicians and selfish business interests that sought to exploit the cities for private ends. Our municipal conditions are thus the natural result of this alliance between conservatism and corruption.”

--- J. Allen Smith, The Spirit of American Government, 1907. pp 286-287