Much attention has focused on how the Illinois state legislature might be prepared to take on public employee benefits – either to solve its budget deficit or change the way government works. But what about the other side of the equation? How ready are unions and their allies should benefits or rights be challenged?

Illinois has played a role in the recent events in Wisconsin - the state’s provided safe harbor to some of the runaway Democratic legislators. But no large scale protests have yet been hosted in the Prairie State. So is Illinois down for the count or ramping up for a fight?

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Steven Ashby joined Eight Forty-Eight to assess the history and future of protesting in Illinois.