* Sun-Times…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel had some big shoes to fill when he took over for Mayor Richard M. Daley when he was inaugurated as mayor in May 2011. But according to a study released by the University of Illinois-Chicago, the City Council has been more compliant with Rahm in his first two years than they were with Richard J. Daley during his first two years in office and more than Richard M. Daley had in his final two years in office. Dick Simpson, a political science professor at UIC and a former alderman (44th ward, 1971-1979), headed the study which looked at “30 divided roll call votes since the current City Council began in May, 2011.” (Grain of salt #1: even just one alderman dissenting is enough to categorize a vote as a “divided roll call.”)

Per a press release on the study: “According to the study, 21 aldermen voted to support Mayor Emanuel’s position 100% of the time and 18 aldermen voted with him over 90% of the time. Only seven of the 30 issues drew six or more dissenting votes.” The study follows up that the issue with the most dissent was Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to put cameras in “Children Safety Zones” around schools. That vote had 33 vote in favor and 14 dissent (three voted absent).

The study continues: “The average level of support for Mayor Emanuel was 93% on all divided roll call votes, an increase from the overwhelming 88% Richard M. Daley enjoyed in his last term. It was also greater than the 83% achieved by Richard J. Daley in his first two years in office, 1955-56, or the 85% support the ‘Boss’ received in 1971-72. Emanuel even topped Mayor Edward J. Kelly’s 88% support earned in 1939-40.”

* From the study…

Aldermen claim that they voted more often with the mayor because Mayor Emanuel was more willing to compromise with them than Mayor Daley had been. When aldermen pushed back on cuts to staff and library service hours in the 2012 budget battles, the mayor agreed to reduce the cuts. Or when the rules for NATO Summit protests were too draconian and aldermen objected, the mayor made the rules less restrictive. So some aldermen argue that they vote with the mayor more often because they are able to work out compromises behind the scenes.

Yet, in two years since the mayor and the city council were sworn in, there have been only 30 divided roll call votes. The number remains at about the same level as under Mayor Daley at about two a month. Historically, the number of divided roll call votes has ranged between 50-100 a year and peaked at 387 divided votes during Mayor Eugene Sawyer’s two years in office during the chaos that which followed Council Wars from 1987 – 1989.

And a chart…

Discuss.