The 2010 Chicago Civic Health Index demonstrates the failure of the region to prepare its youngest citizens for their adult civic responsibilities, along with the effects of endemic political corruption and the widespread cynicism and disengagement it spawns. While Chicagoland residents trail their national peers by small margins on most measures of civic health, including civic engagement and social capital, the overall numbers are unacceptably low. The challenge of turning the tide rests upon the region's commitment to civic education and engagement opportunities for tomorrow's active, informed citizens and political leaders.

For the purposes of this report, civic engagement is dened as a composite of ve frequently measured and discussed forms of civic participation: voting, volunteering, working with neighbors to x a problem in the community, expression of political voice, and financial contributions to voluntary organizations. In voter turnout for the 2004 Presidential election, Chicagoland citizens (65.5%) were just as likely to vote as their state (65.6%) and more likely than their national peers (63.8%). However, despite the historic implications of the 2008 election and the favorite–son candidacy of then–Senator Barack Obama, turnout actually declined among Chicagoland citizens (62.1%), who were outvoted by both their state (62.6%) and national peers (63.6%).

In volunteering rates, Chicago ranks 38th among the 51 largest cities in the United States. Chicago volunteers averaged 27.9 hours per resident over the course of a year, ranking 45th among the 51 largest cities studied. On a more positive note, Chicagoland citizens are slightly more apt to engage in selected political activities than the nation as a whole (26.7% compared with 26.3%). This includes contacting of or visits with public ofcials; attending meetings where political issues are discussed; purchasing or boycotting products or services for political reasons; taking part in a march, protest, rally, or demonstration; and contributing nancially to political candidates or their parties. Chicagoland residents are also more likely to engage in political conversations with friends and family a few times a week or more (43.0% versus 39.3% nationally).

Social capital allows individuals to form connections that benet the collective interests of the community. This encompasses networks of mutual obligations through interactions with a diverse group of people. For the purposes of this report, social capital is measured by group membership; “private sociability,” centering on people's personal connections to family members, friends, and peers; and discussion of current events and access to information.

Group membership in Chicagoland (36.7%) mirrors state (37.2%) and national averages (35.1%). On measures of connectedness, Chicagoland residents trail the rest of the country on every measure but one , but these differences are relatively small. While they are slightly less likely to eat dinner with their families at least a few times a week (86.4% to 89.1%), to talk with their neighbors (45.3% to 45.8%), and do favors for their neighbors (15.1% to 16.0%), Chicagoland citizens are more likely to converse with friends and family via the Internet (60.1% to 53.6%). Across all forms of media, Chicagoland residents outpace their national peers in terms of news attentiveness . They are more avid consumers of newspapers and news magazines, television news, radio news, and Internet news (32% to 29%).

While the cures for Chicagoland's ailing civic health are elusive, the restoration of the civic missions of the region's schools is vital to the future of local democratic participation and governance. The McCormick Foundation, in partnership with the Illinois Civic Mission Coalition, published the Illinois Civic Blueprint in 2009. The blueprint outlines six promising approaches to citizen development and provides models of their execution in local schools and through community organizations. It sets up a process where Illinois high schools document their commitment to these approaches, and those deemed procient are conferred Democracy School status. To date, nine local high schools have been recognized as Democracy Schools. The restoration of Chicagoland's civic health over the next generation is incumbent upon all regional schools living their civic mission and becoming Democracy Schools.