Graduation Year
2018
Date of Submission
12-2017
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Reader 1
John J. Pitney Jr.
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2017 Jack T Segal
Abstract
Throughout the 20th century, Illinois supported winning candidates in twenty-three out of twenty-five presidential elections. However, in the 21st century, Illinois supported winning candidates in two out of five presidential elections. The state’s divergence from national trends followed three partisan shifts that occurred in the mid-to-late 20th and early-21st centuries. These shifts altered the state’s partisan preferences. While the causes of each shift varies, Illinois’s changing demographics, the concentration of its population in the Chicago Metropolitan area, and the rise of the post-industrial economy, caused the state to depart national trends as Illinois increasingly supported Democrats.
Recommended Citation
Segal, Jack, "Illinois’s Shift to the Left: How a Bellwether State Diverged from National Trends" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1744.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1744
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
