What were the political consequences of the Industrial Revolution?

The major political impact of the Industrial Revolution (I
would argue) was to push countries like Britain and the United States towards a greater
level of democracy.

Once the Industrial Revolution truly
came into being, the older, more patriarchal ways of politics had to begin dying.  There
were no longer the sorts of paternalistic, patron-client relations that made for a more
feudal form of government.  Instead, the masses of people were equal to one another and
had only economic relations with their bosses.  The days in which tenant farmers on a
landlord's estate would look to him for political cues were gone.  Instead, the mass of
people were workers who had little connection to their bosses and who, instead, acted on
their own interests.

This is not to say that the US or
England became more democratic right away.  However, in the long run, the major
political impact of the Industrial Revolution was increased
democratization.