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Completely agree. In terms of actual knowledge of and participation in government itself (not just protesting and complaining about certain issues), Chicago is extremely politically aware overall. The local media concentrates heavily on coverage of politicians and rooting out corruption (although they sometimes go overboard with their "Gotcha!" stories). That's the key difference - lots of people in lots of markets can form protests and call that "political activism", but that's not really political "participation" in the messy world of government where simply complaining about an issue and a dollar will buy you a bag of chips. Chicagoans know their aldermen and participate heavily in local boards that actually have decision-making authority. That's true political participation in my mind. There are also certainly daily protests for a variety of issues everyday, so the public displays are there if that's what others care about. I just see those protests as much more superficial compared to actually getting into the nitty-gritty of how real-life politics work.
California has a different political culture in that it has a lot of issue-based activism because of the ability to put initiatives and propositions on the ballot for voters. So, you see a lot of different people championing their pet issues. Those types of propositions don't exist in Illinois or New York, so Chicago and NYC political matters congeal around political parties much more than specific issues. The immigration debate also hits California differently since it's a border state, so that's a frontline in-your-face issue there compared to the Northern states. This explains why there has been a lot more direct reaction in California to the new Arizona law - it's not that Chicago and NYC don't care about it, but rather there's a sense of immediate impact from that type of law living in a border statee.
Excellent explanation of the dichotomy of political styles\ expressions.
None of those cities have anything on Washington, I can tell you that.
Just to follow up on my own comment, obviously being the seat of U.S. government gives Washington a major advantage over any other U.S. city as far as being political. What I meant by my comment is until you actually live in Washington, you don't realize just how pervasive the politics - in terms of not being able to get away from political discussion and what I would call political BS - is in DC. Maybe it's because I work for the federal government currently, but I don't think most other cities have nearly as high a population that thinks about politics as much as DC does, that views it like its pastime, and looks at politicians like media stars, not unlike how I'd guess many people in Los Angeles look at the movie and TV industries.
Los Angeles is probably more active politically though some may find that a surprise. Huge demonstrations [500,000 people] have occurred over the issue of immigration lead by the mayor and archbishop.
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Un...eform_protests
A major demonstration in Chicago on March 10, 2006 estimated at 100,000 people was the initial impetus for protests throughout the country. The largest single demonstration occurred in Los Angeles on March 25, 2006 with a march of more than 500,000 people through downtown. The largest nationwide day of protest occurred on April 10, 2006, in 102 cities across the country, with 350,000-500,000 in Dallas and around 300,000 in Chicago.
Some of the nations largest antiwar protests have occurred in Chicago. Not a day goes by that you won't see at least one demonstration in the Loop. My neighborhoods weekly anti-war protest is still going since the start of the Iraq War. On my bike rides around the city I routinely see protests, often in front of an aldermans office, a church, consulate, business, or city hall. But more often I get asked to sign a petition.
Anybody have voter turnout data? I think it was something absurdly low like only 15% in the last Los Angeles mayoral election.
Chicago, people there understand there is no point because you wont change anything and any attempt is utterly worthless, so why bother.
Politicians are scum and nothing else is new
I certainly wouldn't say that. There is a HUGE participation in local politics here dealing with Alderman. Many wards see tight races with canidates showing vastly different viewpoints. Our alderman is running again this year, and the ward is up in arms to try and get her finally voted out. The alderman have a lot of control over the direction of their ward, development and priorities.
The city as a whole is run like a machine, but people for the most part haven't changed that because it's worked. This is the first time that a majority of people are unhappy with Mayor Daley, and he could very well lose this election if a good canidate can be found.
It's not worthless here, it's because historically the corruption was corruption and cheating - but in the end things got done. Garbage is always picked up, streets are always plowed, the city answers their phones and if you call 311 or your alderman about issues - surprisingly you'll normally get a response and some action. Sometimes not, sometimes yes, but it's not the corruption where the people in charge get everything and the common people get totally screwed.
If anything we're lucky that at least Daley loves Chicago to his core and makes it run. The past few years though I think he's finally strayed, and with this economy it's blowing up in his face. He now only has a 34% approval rating - down from the 70%'s only a few years ago.
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