Culture Wars: Wisconsin vs. Illinois

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I wanted to share this classic from the former NBC Chicago blog The Ward Room. Ten years ago Wisconsin was a bit of a hot bed under a newly minted Republican Governor Scott Walker who wanted to break the power of the public employee unions. There were protest outside of his house and in 2018 after two full terms Gov. Walker was defeated by current Governor Tony Evers.

Evers seems poised to be a one-term Governor however the election is only next year and time will tell on that.

Anyway in a post written by Edward McClelland he tells the differences in philosophy between governing Wisconsin vs governing Illinois. Two neighboring Midwestern states and two different states of minds.

Wisconsin is renowned for its German culture, but it’s important to understand the type of Germans that settled there. The first German settlers were fleeing from the Revolution of 1848, which attempted to establish a republic with free speech, trial by jury and freedom of the press. After it failed, the rebels needed a place to hide. They chose Wisconsin. As a result, Wisconsin became an innovator in progressive reforms: the “Wisconsin Idea” championed public education and workers’ compensation. Wisconsin was the first state with a public radio station, the first state with a presidential primary, and it abolished the death penalty in 1853.

Chicago, on the other hand, was settled by people looking to make a killing in the fur trade, or in real estate. Our very first mayor, William Ogden, arrived here from New York to sell some land that belonged to his brother-in-law. From then, Chicago attracted men who were trying to Make It Big, from Cyrus McCormick to Al Capone. With all that money flowing, the politicians had their hands out, too. “Good government,” a cherished tradition in Wisconsin, was a dirty term in Illinois, because it interrupted the orderly flow of cash between business and politics. Illinois politics was never about advancing ideals. It was about getting jobs and contracts for your friends, family members and campaign contributors.

While Wisconsin’s revolutionary instincts have usually been directed toward progressive reforms, they’ve also advanced conservative causes, if the political winds are blowing in that direction. We saw that with Sen. Joe McCarthy. We’re seeing it again with Gov. Scott Walker. That’s why Madison is in chaos, and Springfield is still a place where the House Speaker’s son-in-law gets a six-figure job as a lobbyist for a state agency.

That would never happen in Wisconsin.

Hmmm, I still think this analysis is interesting. And the corruption issue not directly said in this posting from a decade ago is still something of a factor in Illinois. Especially Chicago where some Aldermen and other politicos have gotten in trouble for issues related to corruption especially bribery. 

This has been the latest edition of the Shedd School of Political Science.