CHICAGO -- Former Govs. Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan are the poster boys for Illinois corruption.
According to research conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, only California and New York have more corruption convictions during the 34-year period between 1976 and 2010.
And only Louisiana had more convictions per capita.
"What a surprise," State Representative Dave Leitch (R - 73rd District) said sarcastically when informed of the results of the study.
While it didn't seem like news to Leitch, he is concerned about the baggage that's attached to such a dubious ranking.
"Its very unfortunate that we continue to have that designation," Leitch said. "We're the deadbeat state because of our failure to pay bills. We're the state that's recognized as having the worst bond rating in the country. And years of incompetent governance have resulted in this situation."
Illinois' reputation for corruption, particularly Chicago, dates back to The Roaring '20s and The Great Depression.
According to a member of the Illinois State University political science department, at least one of the reasons the state finds itself singled is its pursuit of justice.
"One of the reasons, given the way this research was done, that we look so bad is that we prosecute our cases quite aggressively," said Professor Lane Crothers. In some other states or some other regions people might just plea out or they might resign and everybody sweeps it under the carpet."
In fact, in the study, the federal district dominated by Chicago accounted for 1,531 public corruption convictions. Professor Crothers said the city's machine politics are also partly to blame for the financial mess in Illinois.
"What the machine system does, and what the nature of politics in Illinois does, is it freezes existing relationships, and it makes them hard to change," explained Crothers. "So when you need to adapt they are well-established, well-defended interests that are very skilled at protecting their positions."
Crothers said until that changes nothing much will change in Illinois.
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