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NORC at the University Chicago

Chicago in Conversation Poll

People walking across bridge in Chicago
Informing a civic dialogue initiative by measuring political division with the ChicagoSpeaks panel
  • Client
    University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago Public Media
  • Dates
    May 2026 – September 2026

Challenge

A new civic dialogue program in Chicago needed a clear picture of what divides and unites city residents.

 

The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and Chicago Public Media, home of WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, planned a new initiative called Chicago in Conversation: People, Policy, and the City We Share. Its goal was to bring Chicagoans with different backgrounds and views together for informed, constructive dialogue about issues facing the city.

 

Designing the program required a clear picture of how residents experience political division. The partners wanted to know whether Chicagoans see their city as more or less divided than Illinois and the nation, which local issues divide them most, what they believe is driving division, and whether they are willing to engage across differences.

Solution

NORC surveyed nearly 1,200 Chicago adults in nine days through ChicagoSpeaks, its probability-based panel of city residents.

NORC conducted the survey through ChicagoSpeaks®, a probability-based panel that NORC funds and operates, which is designed to represent Chicago’s household population. Because the panel was already in place, the survey could be fielded quickly and cost-effectively.

We worked with staff from Harris Public Policy and Chicago Public Media on all aspects of the study. Between June 15–23, 2026, NORC interviewed 1,194 Chicago adults online in English or Spanish. The sample combined ChicagoSpeaks panelists with Chicago residents who belong to AmeriSpeak®, NORC’s national probability-based panel, and the estimates were calibrated to account for both sources.

We removed 30 interviews that did not pass data quality checks and weighted the results to American Community Survey benchmarks for region of the city and key demographic characteristics. The final estimates carry a margin of sampling error of +/- 4.1 percentage points. NORC presented the findings, including differences by party, age, and education, in a public report.

Result

NORC’s data helped shape a new Chicago program that brings residents together to discuss the city’s most divisive issues.

Eighty percent of Chicagoans described the United States as extremely or very politically divided, compared with 27 percent for Chicago. Sixty percent were optimistic that people with different views can work out their differences locally, and about 4 in 10 said they would talk with people they disagree with to reduce division. Residents named the city’s spending priorities, policing, housing policy, negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union, and the economy as the most divisive local issues.

NORC’s report was published in July 2026, and the partners cited its findings when they announced Chicago in Conversation in September. Over six months, 40 Chicagoans are taking part in civil discourse training and facilitated conversations with Harris faculty and WBEZ and Sun-Times journalists.

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