Poll: 89 percent say corruption is common in Illinois

After having former governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich go to jail, some results from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shouldn’t surprise anyone. Of 1,001 registered voters polled, 89 percent say corruption is somewhat common in the state.

Those surveyed don’t have a much higher opinion of the federal goverment, as 79 percent said corruption is common.

“These are sad numbers,” said David Yepsen, director of the institute. “No wonder so many people don’t vote and participation in civic affairs seems limited. It’s unhealthy for a society to have such little confidence in the integrity of government. It makes Illinois an unattractive place to live.”

Here’s a closer look at the numbers:

Of those polled, 60 percent of people living in Chicago said county or city corruption has a good amount or quite a bit of an impact on their daily lives.