The elites of public life in the American city have been structurally bifurcated into political and civic spheres. This is because of the rapid rise of the American business elite during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the extensive “professionalization” of politics in the United States and the movement of ethnic groups into politics in the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Compared with the relatively low status of urban politics and politicians, urban civic spheres are high status in origin and leadership.