GODFREY, ILLINOIS: ESTABLISHING A NEW CITY    Godfrey, Illinois, is one of the newest municipalities in the State of Illinois. In order to protect its right to control taxation and land use, the residents voted (in a hotly contested referendum) to incorporate. Following incorporation, the village had to organize itself and elect its first government. This case study examines the growing pains of the new village, based on surveys of the voters, interviews with participants, observation at meetings, and direct involvement in the first mayoral election. The article was published in village newspaper and was well-received as history of the first days of the new town.

 

CONTINUING POLITICAL HISTORY OF GODFREY, ILLINOIS    After the newly incorporated Village of Godfrey established its first government, it undertook many of the difficult political tasks of governance, including establishing zoning ordinances, setting restrictions on undesirable behavior (e.g. taverns), etc. And, in order to be in harmony with state practice, the village staged a second general election only a year and half after the first. This paper continues the case study of the growth of the new town, based on surveys, interviews with participants, observation at meetings, and direct involvement in the second mayoral election. As with the initial case study, this paper was published in the neighborhood newspaper.

 

NEWSPAPER MUG SHOTS, READERS ATTITUDES, AND AN ILLINOIS CASE STUDY    In the midst of a heated mayoral campaign, the local newspaper published the photographs of the five candidates. For four of the candidates the newspaper used professional studio portraits. For the fifth and leading candidate, the newspaper used a grainy, informal news photograph from its archives. The candidate lost by 50 votes (1/2 of 1%). This study is based on an experiment--using sets of studio photographs and the actual photographs--to determine the potential influence of the photograph on voters. Based on the research, the grainy photo had a demonstrated negative impact on readers while a studio photograph (which had appeared in the newspaper just two week earlier) had a demonstrated positive impact on readers. While there were other factors contributing to the surprising election upset, the candidate had a clearly demonstrated grounds for complaint against the newspaper. Editorial decision do have an impact on politics.

THE 1986 LAROUCHE ELECTION DEBACLE IN ILLINOIS   In the primary election leading up to the 1986 general election for Illinois' governor and other constitutional officers, the Illinois Democratic Party received the shock of its life. Two members of Lyndon LaRouche's fringe party defeated the Democratic slate for lieutenant governor and secretary of state. The disaster was recognized nationally and it resulted in substantial defeat that November and in subsequent years. This paper explores the reasons for the unexpected result and sets the circumstances in four theoretical frameworks--the rational voter model of Anthony Downs, the free rider problem identified by Mancur Olson, the issue of political acquiescence, and the problem of majoritarian versus other forms of politics noted by James Q. Wilson. The paper particularly singles out the role (or failure) of the media and notes strategies the Democrats have since undertaken to prevent a repeat to the debacle.

SOME INDICATIONS THAT FOREIGN SOUNDING NAMES MATTER Voters rely on cues to guide their voting. Political party labels are the most familiar of the cues. Placement on the election ballot is another cue. There are indications, as this paper notes, that Illinois voters, when left without other voting cues, rely on the ethnic nature of the candidate's names.

 
Political behavior may include many aspects of our political life--voting in elections, joining political parties, giving to interest groups, expressing our opinions. These readings explore many of these aspects in the context of local politics and grassroots political activities in southwestern Illinois. The first set of articles explores the formation of public opinion. The first article examines elements of the use of media to become informed about political issues and positions. The subsequent four articles explore elements of public opinion, in particular how citizens understand each others' opinions and influences on their opinions, over a number of years in Jersey County (including Jerseyville, Elsah, and rural precincts) and Godfrey. The final two articles explore the role and impact of negative advertising in a local election and the influence of gender and party on voting decisions.
 

POLITICAL MEDIA USE IN RURAL ILLINOIS You've decided to run for local office--county commissioner, state's attorney, circuit judge, coroner, sheriff, mayor, village trustee, state representative. How do you get your message to the voters? Which medium is most consumed? And, which medium is most influential? The results might surprise you. This study is based on interviews with local political officials and extensive exit polling in Jersey County. The results have shaped a number of successful local campaigns.

PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE IN LOCAL POLITICAL MEDIA   Do you really know what others think about a policy? More often than not, we actually don't know what others think. This phenomenon--thinking we know what others believe when we actually don't--is called pluralistic ignorance. This is the first of a number of studies into the existence and nature of the phenomenon in local political communities. Although pluralistic ignorance exists on national and state levels, does it also exist in local politics? If so or if not, why? This study was derived from the first of a number of exit polls conducted during Illinois general and primary elections.

THIRD-PERSON EFFECT IN LOCAL POLITICAL MEDIA (Jersey County) While pluralistic ignorance explains why we misjudge what others believe, the concept of the third person effect asserts that we underestimate the amount of influence media has on us and overestimating the amount of influence media has on others. Exclamations such as "How can people believe that?" implies others are influenced while we are not. The third person effect exists on national and state levels. Does it also exist in local politics? If so or if not, why? This study was derived from the first of a number of exit polls conducted during Illinois general and primary elections.

THIRD-PERSON EFFECT IN LOCAL POLITICAL MEDIA: FURTHER INVESTIGATION (Godfrey)   This study is an effort to expand our understanding of the dynamics of pluralistic ignorance--the misjudgment of what others believe--and the third person effect--misjudging the influence of media on others. It applies the same survey used in Jersey County to the Village of Godfrey in Madison County. Jersey County is predominantly rural and homogeneous in demographics. Godfrey is suburban and a bit less homogeneous in demographics. This study is an attempt to identify the cultural proximity aspects--both geographic proximity and cultural diversity--of the phenomena.

STABILITY OF PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE AND THIRD PERSON EFFECT   There is a growing body of research literature on both pluralistic ignorance and the third person effect. This research explores a new, uncharted dimension of these effects - the dimension of time. This study is based on two exit polls taken at the same polling places in Jersey County, Illinois, four years apart. The goal of the study was to identify the existence and extent of these two phenomena, and to determine their stability over time. The study found the two effects (and their opposite, the looking glass effect) to be relatively stable over the four year period. The stability could be explained by the stability of socio-economic factors and communication systems in the community.

 

NEGATIVE POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS --WHO DOES IT HURT MORE, THE TARGET OR THE SOURCE? Results of a study of a campaign for the Illinois General Assembly A unique opportunity provided itself during the 1994 Illinois General Assembly races to study the potential impact of negative campaigning in a local election. There are extensive studies and commentary about negative campaigning on the national and state levels, but little (if any) at the local level. This study, based on a survey of Jersey County voters, explores their reaction to a negative campaign of direct mail targeted by a Democratic challenger against the incumbent Republican state representatives. The results demonstrate, with some conviction, that the negative campaign may have actually hurt the sponsor rather than the target. It appears that few Republicans were convinced to change their minds about their party's candidate, while Democrats and independents may have been actually driven away from the Democratic candidate.

PARTY OR GENDER: TO WHOM ARE WE LOYAL? The 1994 Illinois general election for governor and lieutenant governor pitted two moderate Republican male incumbents against two moderate Democratic female challengers. The election provided the backdrop for a random sample survey of registered voters in the Alton-Godfrey area as to which element they asserted would influence their vote--party or gender. Clearly, Democratic women and Republican men would be expected to vote overwhelmingly for their logical candidates. However, how would the Democratic men and the Republican women vote? The indications from the study, at least in urban southwestern Illinois, are that party identification remains more influential than gender, even on the heels of "the year of the woman."