Month: April 2026

Everyone loves a good obituary. Especially when it’s about Chicago’s political machine. Reformers have been writing its epitaph since the 1970s, and every election cycle, some fresh-faced reporter declares the old ward system dead and buried. But here’s what the Continue reading How the Chicago Machine Adapted to Survive→

Every couple years, some reform-minded alderman or watchdog group makes noise about ending aldermanic privilege. And every couple years, nothing changes. That’s not an accident. That’s the system working exactly as designed—to protect itself. Chicago calls itself a democracy, but Continue reading Why Aldermanic Privilege Still Runs Chicago→