With 42,336 elected officials as of 1992, Illinois has nearly 12,000 more state and local elected politicians than any other state. Amazingly, with this unprecedented wealth of legislators Illinois hasn’t been able to adequately address some of its most dire problems. Illinois still ranks near the bottom of the nation in numerous key economic indicators,...

Term limits are a foreign concept to most Illinoisans. There are no term limit provisions governing our state legislature or constitutional officers. At least 39 other states have some form of term limits that apply to either state legislators or constitutional officers. Only a few municipalities in Illinois, such as Downers Grove, have any formal term-limits policy. But...

One of the best protections against corruption is transparency, and in today’s digital age one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Unfortunately, most Illinois counties need to dramatically improve when it comes to online transparency. The Illinois Policy Institute recently audited all...