From the Bullet to the Ballot PDF Download

Author: Jakobi Williams
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469608162
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

View

Book Description
In this comprehensive history of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party (ILBPP), Chicago native Jakobi Williams demonstrates that the city's Black Power movement was both a response to and an extension of the city's civil rights movement. Williams focuses on the life and violent death of Fred Hampton, a charismatic leader who served as president of the NAACP Youth Council and continued to pursue a civil rights agenda when he became chairman of the revolutionary Chicago-based Black Panther Party. Framing the story of Hampton and the ILBPP as a social and political history and using, for the first time, sealed secret police files in Chicago and interviews conducted with often reticent former members of the ILBPP, Williams explores how Hampton helped develop racial coalitions between the ILBPP and other local activists and organizations. Williams also recounts the history of the original Rainbow Coalition, created in response to Richard J. Daley's Democratic machine, to show how the Panthers worked to create an antiracist, anticlass coalition to fight urban renewal, political corruption, and police brutality.

Author: Thomas J. Gradel
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252097033
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

View

Book Description
Public funds spent on jets and horses. Shoeboxes stuffed with embezzled cash. Ghost payrolls and incarcerated ex-governors. Illinois' culture of "Where's mine?" and the public apathy it engenders has made our state and local politics a disgrace. In Corrupt Illinois, veteran political observers Thomas J. Gradel and Dick Simpson take aim at business-as-usual. Naming names, the authors lead readers through a gallery of rogues and rotten apples to illustrate how generations of chicanery have undermined faith in, and hope for, honest government. From there, they lay out how to implement institutional reforms that provide accountability and eradicate the favoritism, sweetheart deals, and conflicts of interest corroding our civic life. Corrupt Illinois lays out a blueprint to transform our politics from a pay-to-play–driven marketplace into what it should be: an instrument of public good.

Author: Gerald Leonard
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807827444
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

View

Book Description
A reexamination of party history and a detailed exposition of party politics in Illinois argues that constitutional issues, not economic or social affiliations, were key to early party development.

Author: James D. Nowlan
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252092015
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

View

Book Description
Considered a microcosm of the nation, the state of Illinois stretches almost four hundred miles from its northern limit at the Wisconsin line to its southern tip at Cairo, nestled between Kentucky and Missouri. Its political culture is as intriguing as the state is long. Illinois has produced presidents and leading members of Congress. It also has a long history of political corruption, including, in recent years, the federal indictments of two consecutive governors. The population of the state is exceptionally diverse, with a significant number of new immigrants. Its political allegiance, once firmly Republican, has trended ever more Democratic. Illinois can be divided neatly into three distinct regions: Chicago, the suburban collar surrounding the city, and the ninety-five downstate counties. Based on the research and experience of respected veterans of Illinois politics, this book shows how the government runs, how politics operates, and what obstacles and opportunities exist for change. It explains how power is exercised and how parties compete for it. For engaged citizens, scholars, and students, Illinois Politics: A Citizen's Guide is a timely and much-needed roadmap for positive change.

Author: Wanda A. Hendricks
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253334473
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

View

Book Description
..". Hendricks adds greatly to our understanding of change and continuity in this important period of women's history." -- American Historical Review From 1890 to 1920, African American club women in Illinois and other Midwestern states created hundreds of female associations and became social and political agents of reform and community uplift. Through their own volunteerism and fundraising they combated the problems of homelessness, unemployment, illiteracy, and poor health care that plagued their communities. The Illinois club women also played a primary role in the election of the first black alderman in Chicago. This is their inspiring story.

Author: Samuel Kimball Gove
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803221208
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

View

Book Description
Since the end of World War II, the primary political regions of Illinois, Chicago and "downstate, " have lost population, wealth, and political power to a third region, the suburban collar, which has relentlessly expanded outward from Chicago. At the same time, legislative service has changed from a largely part-time "citizen" activity into a "professional, " career-oriented pursuit. Parochial perspectives of elected officials have intensified as reflected in candidates' promises to deliver their districts' "fair share" of government spending. The state legislature has become an arena in which each region battles for its own fair share, rather than an instrument for comprehensively addressing the state's problems. The authors foresee the emergence of political coalitions linking downstate and Chicago-historically at odds-in efforts to protect their "shares" and contend with the suburban collar. Illinois's political leaders face the challenge of looking beyond district interests to the broader concerns of work-force quality and statewide economic prosperity. Samuel K. Gove is Director Emeritus at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Illinois. He is coeditor with Louis H. Masotti of After Daley: Chicago Politics in Transition. James D. Nowlan is an adjunct professor of public policy at Knox College and a Senior Fellow with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs. He is the author of A New Game Plan for Illinois.

Author: Melissa Mouritsen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780252087974
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
Shifting demographics. Downstate versus Chicago. Billionaires and bribery. Even veteran observers need a roadmap to track Illinois' ever-changing political landscape. Melissa Mouritsen, Kent D. Redfield, and James D. Nowlan provide an up-to-date primer on Prairie State politics, government, and policies. Features include: Discussions of recent events like the 2015-2017 budget disaster, the response to COVID-19, and the fall of longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan; New chapters on corruption, social policies, and the political rules of the game; Perspectives on the nuts-and-bolts of campaign funding, the ways political actors acquire power or influence, and many other topics; Close examinations of complex issues like the state's increased polarization and its ongoing fiscal recovery. Fully revised and expanded, Illinois Politics blends detailed information with expert analysis to offer an essential resource for citizens, students, and public servants alike.

Author: James D. Nowlan
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252096355
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

View

Book Description
Persistent problems have left Illinois the butt of jokes and threatened it with fiscal catastrophe. In Fixing Illinois, James D. Nowlan and J. Thomas Johnson use their four decades of experience as public servants, Springfield veterans, and government observers to present a comprehensive program of almost one hundred specific policy ideas aimed at rescuing the state from its long list of problems. Nowlan and Johnson start with the history of how one of the most prosperous states of the 1950s became a present-day mess riven by debt and discord and increasingly abandoned by both businesses and citizens. Among their more than ninety proposals to restore Illinois to greatness: • An overhaul of state pension systems that includes more reasonable benefits and lengthening of the retirement age, among other changes; • Reducing one of the nation's highest corporate tax rates to attract business; • Medicare reform through an insurance voucher program; • Demanding that schools raise expectations for success, particularly in rural and impoverished urban areas; • A new approach to higher education that includes a market-driven system that puts funds in the hands of students rather than institutions; • Broadening of the tax base to include services and reduction in rates; • The creation of a long-term plan to maintain the state's five-star transportation infrastructure; • Raising funds with capital construction bonds to update and integrate the antiquated information systems used by state agencies; • Uprooting the state's entrenched culture of corruption via public financing of elections, redistricting reform, and revolving door prohibitions for lawmakers. Pointed, honest, and pragmatic, Fixing Illinois is a plan for effective and honest government that seeks an even nobler end: restoring our faith in Illinois's institutions and reviving a sense of citizenship and state pride.

Author: Ned O'Gorman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668315X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

View

Book Description
In this age of nearly unprecedented partisan rancor, you’d be forgiven for thinking we could all do with a smaller daily dose of politics. In his provocative and sharp book, however, Ned O’Gorman argues just the opposite: Politics for Everybody contends that what we really need to do is engage more deeply with politics, rather than chuck the whole thing out the window. In calling for a purer, more humanistic relationship with politics—one that does justice to the virtues of open, honest exchange—O’Gorman draws on the work of Hannah Arendt (1906–75). As a German-born Jewish thinker who fled the Nazis for the United States, Arendt set out to defend politics from its many detractors along several key lines: the challenge of separating genuine politics from distorted forms; the difficulty of appreciating politics for what it is; the problems of truth and judgment in politics; and the role of persuasion in politics. O’Gorman’s book offers an insightful introduction to Arendt’s ideas for anyone who wants to think more carefully

Author: David K. Fremon
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253204905
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 392

View

Book Description
The 1983 mayoral primary and general elections proved a watershed in Chicago politics, in which entire wards quit allegiances of the past. New voting patterns formed which generally continued into the 1987 elections. Covers the Council Wars and the election of Harold Washington as Mayor of Chicago in 1983.