Chicago Residents Surveyed About City Satisfaction
Posted: Tuesday Apr 10, 2012

  • Public Supports Mayor Emanuel and City Services

  • Blacks and White Differ in their Satisfaction With Police

  • A Vast Majority Support a Longer School Day


A majority of Chicago residents approves of Rahm Emanuel’s job as mayor and is satisfied with city services and the police, according to a recent survey conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Political Science Department. The results also show a majority of city residents are dissatisfied with the schools and support a longer school day.


Emanuel’s 57 percent approval rating is about as good as Richard Daley’s during the former Mayor’s best years. On ten previous UIC Political Science Department surveys conducted between 1989 and 1992, Daley’s approval peaked around 60 percent in February 1991.The latest UIC survey shows Emanuel’s job approval among Chicagoans is lower than President Barack Obama’s (70 percent), but higher than Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s (45 percent).


The majority of Chicago residents have positive opinions about the police and city services; however, blacks hold both city services and the police in lower regard than other residents. About 64 percent of Chicago residents are satisfied with city services and 72 percent approve of the job the police are doing in their community. Among black residents, 49 percent are satisfied with city services and 63 percent approve of the job of the police.


Nearly three out of four Chicago residents expressed strong dissatisfaction with the quality of schools and a similar proportion reported strong support for a longer school day. Nearly 73 percent of Chicago residents said they are dissatisfied with the quality of Chicago schools. About 75 percent of Chicago residents expressed support for a longer school day, a reform Emanuel and school administrators advocate.


The results are based on telephone interviews conducted March 15-18 with a random sample of 143 Chicago residents, aged 18 and older. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±8 percentage points.  Given the strong majority opinions expressed by the Chicagoans we surveyed, we can be confident of the general views of the public and especially the African-American and White populations.  The university will be conducting public opinion polls next fall and next spring to determine what changes occur in public opinion before the election and at the end of the second year of Emanuel’s mayoral regime.


For more information, please contact the Political Science Department at UIC.
Robert Bruhl
Phone:(312) 413-3775
E-mail: bruhl1@uic.edu 


Noah Kaplan
Phone: (312)996-5156 
E-mail: njkaplan@uic.edu


 

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