NCoC: Appendix: University of Illinois Springfield’s Center for State Policy and Leadership

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Appendix: University of Illinois Springfield’s Center for State Policy and Leadership

Illinois 2009 Civic Health Index

November 18, 2009

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Illinois Civic Health Index 2009Click to Download PDF Document

Separate from the Illinois Civic Health Index and the CPS data, another survey of civic engagement in Illinois was conducted in 2009 by the University of Illinois Springﬁeld’s Center for State Policy and Leadership as a follow-up to their 2001 Illinois Benchmark Survey. This report shows similar trends of decreased engagement as the Civic Health Index, but charts
them over a longer period of time using similar questions, but different methodologies. The following are selected preliminary results from the forthcoming 2009 UIS survey, which show a mix of stability and change from their 2001 results.i

In terms of community involvement and volunteer activities, 63% of the 2009 respondents reported they had been involved in community volunteer activities or tried to do so something about a community issue or problem over the past ﬁve years, virtually the same proportion as in 2001. And, according to one measure, the 2009 proportion who reported regular volunteering to at least one secular community group, project or cause over the past year is 42%, the same as the proportion who reported regular secular volunteering in 2001.ii

Evidence of decreases in volunteer activities, however, is seen as well. The proportion who reported secular volunteering only on an occasional basis appears to have been cut nearly in half, from almost 25% in 2001 to about 13% in 2009. And, the proportion who reported NO volunteer hours per week increased from about 40% in 2001 to nearly 50% in 2009, with declines found both in the proportions who reported secular and religious- based volunteer hours. Nearly 60% of the 2009 respondents said they were spending about the same amount of time on volunteer activities in their community as they did a year ago while nearly one-quarter (24%) said they were spending less time and 15% said more time. This ﬁnding is actually slightly more positive than that found in 2001, when 63% said they were spending the same amount of time as one year ago, 24% said less time and 11% said more time.iii

For working on community/neighborhood needs, issues and problems, the UIS survey found slightly greater proportions in 2009 than in 2001 who reported that they, in the past year,
attended a meeting of a group dealing with neighborhood needs/ issues (32% vs. 28%) and worked with others to try to solve a community/neighborhood problem (30% vs. 28%). However, a signiﬁcant decline is found for those who reported attending meetings of ofﬁcial local government boards/councils in the past year, 20% for 2009 respondents compared to 36% in 2001.

64% of 2009 respondents reported active membership in at least one local secular group or organization, which is somewhat lower than 68% who reported such in 2001; the average number of local groups for which all sample members reported active membership is about 1.5 in both survey years.iv

Several measures point to a decline in the Illinois public’s religious-based activities from 2001 to 2009. These include a decline in reported membership in a church/synagogue/mosque
(67% to 57%), a decline in the proportion who reported attending religious services at least once a week (47% to 38%) and a decline in the proportion who reported contributing
money to a church/synagogue/mosque in the past year (72% to 58%). A smaller decrease is found in the proportion who reported volunteering any time to a church/synagogue/mosque
in the past year (36% in 2001 to 32% in 2009). Church members are actually quite stable in this regard, with somewhat fewer than half reporting any volunteering and about one in ﬁve reporting regular volunteering in both years. However, when asked later about how many of their estimated volunteer hours per week “are spent on activities speciﬁcally related to your religious faith,” an increase from 2001 to 2009 in the proportion who reported NO hours is found even for church members (49% to 60%) and regular attendees (44% to 53%).

Monetary contributions to a charitable organization in the past year were reported by 72% of the 2009 respondents, basically on par with 2001 (73%). And, contributions of food, clothing or toys to the needy in the past year were reported by 85%, again almost as many as in 2001 (88%).

For the more political activities, only small changes are found for contributions to a PAC, interest group or cause in the past year (15% in 2001 and 12% in 2009) and participating in a march, protest or demonstration in the past two years (6% in 2001 and 8% in 2009). Virtually no change is found for contacting a public ofﬁcial or a member of their staff in the past year (about one- third in both years) and active membership in a local political club or organization (4% in both years).

Perhaps surprisingly, two campaign-related activities show stability from 2001 to 2009 -- reports of working for a party or candidate in the past year (9% in 2001 and 10% in 2009) and reports of contributing money to a party or candidate in the past year (18% in both years). And, reports of attending a candidate forum/debate/voter information night or a candidate rally or speech actually show a decrease from 24% in 2001 to 17% in 2009.v Voting in the 2008 November general election was reported by 63% of the 2009 respondents, virtually the same proportion who actually did so, and more than the estimated 58% of eligible Illinoisans who voted in the 2000 general election.vi

When asked how their involvement in last year’s election campaigns was affected by the presence of the internet, 65% of all respondents said it did not make much difference while just over one-third (34%) said it increased their involvement. No respondent said it decreased their involvement. For 16% of all respondents, particular candidates, campaigns or interest groups led to this increased involvement – with about one in ten speciﬁcally mentioning Barack Obama or his campaign.

i
The 2009 survey was conducted through telephone interviews with about 700 randomly-selected members of the Illinois public by the Survey Research Ofﬁce within the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS. Interviewing was conducted from mid- May through late July of 2009. The benchmark 2001 telephone survey was conducted with about 1,000 randomly-selected respondents. The full report will be released before the end of the year. The benchmark 2001 results can be accessed through: http://cspl.uisedu/OfﬁceOfExecutive Director CivicEngagement/ FinalReport.htm. As with the CPS, the UIS survey used different
sampling and questionairre design than the CHI survey so rates may differ.

ii
If regular volunteering to/participation in charity recreational events (e.g., bikes, walks, bowling, trivia nights) is excluded, the proportion who reported volunteering time on a regular basis to a secular group, project or cause in 2009 is 33%, lower than in 2001. Questions in 2001, however, did include one where respondents were asked about volunteering “to any charity or social service organization in the past year – like to a food pantry, a homeless shelter or a charitable fundraising campaign.”

iii
Unlike the 2001 survey, the 2009 survey also asked about more informal volunteering, like helping out other people or groups or by doing various things that beneﬁt their neighborhood or community as a whole. It was found that reports of this informal
volunteering increased the estimate of total secular volunteering to 71% (16% higher than without this informal aspect) and the estimate of volunteering on a regular basis to 48% (6% higher than without this aspect).

iv
The full report will describe the differences in 2001 and 2009 local membership measurements. For two types of local membership groups speciﬁcally asked about in both survey years, the 2009 incidence of active membership appears basically on par with or just slightly higher than that in 2001 -- local recreation leagues or sports teams (11% in 2001 and
14% in 2009) and groups sharing a common interest or hobby (32% in 2001; 33% and 2009). For two others types, the 2009 incidence is somewhat greater than that found in 2001 – groups relating to youth and schools (17% in 2001 and 23% in 2009) and local groups that relate to the respondent’s job, occupation, and profession (18% in 2001 and 24% in 2009).

v
In 2001, these were asked as two separate questions. They were asked together in 2009.

vi
Illinois turnout estimates for eligible respondents are from the US Elections Project, George Mason University, and compiled by Michael McDonald. See: http://elections.gmu/index.html . It should be noted that 81% of the 2001 UIS survey respondents indicated voting in the general election in 2000. A change in question wording in the 2009 survey apparently brought about more accurate voting turnout reports.

Endnotes • Civic Indicators Working Group and State Partners

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