Illinois, state, United States: Government, Politics, and Higher Education

The governor of Illinois is elected for a term of four years. The state legislature, called the general assembly, consists of a senate with 59 members and a house of representatives with 118 members. Illinois elects 18 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 20 electoral votes. The state is considered a Democratic stronghold along with New York and California.

Institutions of higher learning in Illinois include the Univ. of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago; DePaul Univ., the Univ. of Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology, at Chicago; Northwestern Univ., at Evanston; Illinois State Univ., at Normal; and Southern Illinois Univ., at Carbondale and Edwardsville.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Diversification and Change
• Discontent and the Rise of the Labor Movement
• Industrialization and Abraham Lincoln
• Statehood and Settlement
• Early Inhabitants and European Exploration
• Government, Politics, and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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