NIU Office of Public Affairs

• Experts Guide
• Graphic Standards & Visual Identity
• News Releases
• NIU in the News
• Northern Today
• Resources for
  Campus Communicators
• Web Presence Project
• Contact Us
• Media Relations & Internal Communications Home

News Release

Contact: Joseph King, Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-4299

March 9, 2004

NIU survey finds voters unhappy
about economy and health care

DeKALB — The state of the economy and health care are the issues weighing heavy on the minds of Illinois residents, and come November that may not be good news for incumbent politicians, with whom they seem to be growing impatient.

Those were among the findings of the Illinois Policy Survey, which has been conducted annually by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University since 1984.

This year’s survey of adult Illinois residents found concern about the state of the economy in everything from the assessment of the state’s biggest problem (26 percent said it is the state’s budget problems, the number one answer), to concerns about unemployment (60 percent classified that issue as an important problem) and perceptions of their personal financial wellbeing (43 percent said they were worse off than a year ago).

"I believe much of that is a reflection of the fact that people are fed up with the pace of the supposed economic recovery, which is taking longer to materialize than they would have expected based upon past experience. Many individuals remain in economic despair despite being told by politicians and the media that the economy is in recovery mode and has greatly improved over the last year or so," says Professor Michael Peddle, director of the survey.

Respondents were even more distraught over the state of the healthcare system in America. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents indicated that they believe the health system is in a state of crisis or has major problems. Furthermore, 70 percent said that they believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all Americans have healthcare coverage.

"Health care is such a major part of quality of life, and I think people feel like they are getting hit from all sides – employers are cutting benefits or requiring employees to pay more, and those who don’t have jobs often can’t afford health insurance even when they can get access to it," says Peddle.

Disappointment over a perceived lack of progress in fixing either the economy or healthcare may explain the significantly lower ratings given to Congress in this year’s poll.

Nearly one-fourth of registered voters responding (24 percent) rated the performance of Congress as poor or very poor, an increase of more than two-fold compared to last year when only 10 percent of respondents rated Congress poorly. The percentage rating the performance of Congress as excellent or good saw a corresponding drop to 37 percent this year, down from 46 percent last year.

"In general, congressional rankings reflect whether or not Congress is addressing what people want done. Right now, things like health care and employment are big issues for people and they aren’t seeing improvement, so they are unhappy," says Barbara Burrell, associate director of NIU’s Public Opinion Laboratory, which conducted the survey.

That frustration appears to extend all the way to the White House.

Ratings for President George W. Bush dropped to the lowest levels seen since the last year of his father’s presidency, with fully one third of respondents rating the President’s job performance as poor or very poor. The 37 percent excellent/good rating is the lowest positive rating given a president in a decade.

Those ratings looks startling when contrasted with the 71 percent who classified Bush’s performance excellent or good in 2001, but that number was artificially inflated by the terrorist attacks of 9-11, says Peddle.

"I would have expected his original ratings to have started out lower, considering that he didn’t even carry the state in the 2000 election, but 9-11 skewed things. I believe what we are seeing now may be a more accurate reflection of how Illinois residents truly view him," Peddle says.

Interestingly, Peddle says, Bush’s performance in Iraq does not seem to be of much concern to Illinois residents right now. "About half of the surveys were completed prior to the capture of Saddam Hussein and about half after, and it had almost no effect on how Illinois residents viewed the president," says Peddle.

"That lack of change may reflect that people are tiring of the war – domestic issues are just overwhelming it," speculates Burrell.

"Issues on the home front are clearly the big concern," agrees Peddle, adding that improvements in those areas will likely be needed for Bush to win a second term come November. "If the economy turns around this summer I think it will be a big boost to Bush, but if it doesn’t, I believe people are going to lose patience."

The 2004 Illinois Policy Survey was conducted from mid-November 2003 until mid-January 2004. The findings of the survey represent responses from 1,248 men and women, 18 or older, who were interviewed by telephone. The survey has a 95 percent confidence interval of + 3, meaning there is a 95 percent likelihood the population percentage will fall within 3 percentage points of the sample percentage.

###