As a political science and journalism major, I’d like to think of myself as fairly well-informed when it comes to politics.

My family and I discuss politics often, I pay close attention to the news and I learn about a wide range of political issues through my coursework. What more could I need?

There is one place where my political awareness disappears, and that is local politics. 

I may know who the governor and lieutenant governor are, and while I can rattle off important people in Congress without hesitation, state legislators always trip me up.

I am not alone. A 2018 survey by Johns Hopkins University found less than 20% of respondents could not name their state legislators, and truth be told, I am usually part of the uninformed majority in that regard.

A further study out of Saint Louis University in 2023 showed Americans have a weak understanding of facts like rules for state politicians, state budgets and their state’s own policies, especially when compared to their knowledge of federal-level politics.

Why are state and local governments a blind spot for so many in the U.S.?

Paul Soper, senior lecturer and internship director for the University of Minnesota’s Department of Political Science, said news coverage plays a big role in how much attention is paid to local politicians.

“I think, as far as knowledge of who your representatives are, it’s probably mostly a product of media coverage,” Soper said. “News media tend to focus on the national news stories.”

Larry Jacobs, director for the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, agreed that the shift in media coverage from local news to national events helped redirect public attention.

“We’ve just had a closing out of the media that would provide information about state and local policy decisions and politics,” Jacobs said. “So instead of this, people are following the media reporting that they do get, which is on national politics — Donald Trump and the Democrats — and they will kind of extrapolate what they see at the national levels onto the state and local levels.”

Because of this shift, even when the news does bring state politics to light, it often has less of an impact than coverage of national politics. 

After the death of Minnesota Sen. Kari Dziedzic, the Senate was brought into a 33-33 tie between parties. This tie was so contentious that the subsequent special election even made headlines in national news outlets, such as The Hill.

However, despite the statewide importance of this election, the special election for Senate District 60 only saw 19% of its registered voters cast their votes.

Soper said while Minnesota stands out for having more media coverage of state politics due to the state capitol’s location within the Twin Cities, a lot of the focus that is brought to local politics is due to scandal or other controversy instead of actual policy.

“You hear about the scandals because that sells newspapers and attracts attention to broadcasts, so it gets viewership and readership,” Soper said. “The nitty-gritty details of legislation, virtually no one pays attention to that.”

Despite this lack of attention to local- and state-level politics, these political arenas are becoming increasingly more important.

One front where this is clear is in local school boards, an arena that can play a vital role in communities across the nation.

For example, the issue of what books should be allowed in public school libraries is a battle that has been fought in a plethora of school board sessions across the country. 

The literary advocacy organization PEN America recorded more than 10,000 instances of book bans nationwide in the 2023-2024 school year. 

This issue, which is primarily discussed by leaders at the local level, can have nationwide consequences. A case on whether or not LGBTQ+ books can be read in elementary schools is currently pending before the Supreme Court.

Soper said when people can clearly see the effects of political decisions on their personal lives, such as through their children’s education, it can motivate them to be more involved in their community’s governance.

“I think that the school board issues are a good example of that kind of local political issue that gets people involved in local politics, because it affects their children,” Soper said. “So, yeah, I think we’ll continue to see that as long as there are strong disagreements on issues about curriculum, or books in libraries, things like that.”

This power of public involvement even led prominent interest groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, to publish guides for their members on how to influence and engage with school boards.

Jacobs said another major factor in the drift toward local politics is more and more national groups doing their own recruiting and hand-picking candidates for national office.

“It’s no longer sort of this volunteer effort where you would see someone up for city council, then maybe they’d run for mayor, then they’d be encouraged to run for state offices,” Jacobs said. “There’s just a much greater intentionality by organized interests to recruit candidates to advocate for their interest.”

Despite what this nationally focused trend may imply, state-level offices hold control over many crucial policies, a fact that became clearer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. 

Even a year after the Dobbs v. Jackson’s decision removing the nationwide right to abortion, dozens of states had laws in effect restricting or even banning abortion.

Soper said while local politics may not get nearly as much news or social media attention, its proximity to people’s lives helps drive community engagement.

“On the other hand, when a local issue rises that is of concern to people, they are more likely to get actively involved in that if it directly impacts them,” Soper said. “So, in terms of political engagement, there may be a little bit of a difference between knowledge of who’s holding what offices and how these issues affect them.” 

We all have issues that we care about and problems that affect our daily lives. As such, we owe it to ourselves and our community to pay more attention to who and what is involved in our local governance.

After all, local school board members are public knowledge, and state legislatures display rosters of politicians and their profiles. 

Whether it’s by calling your state representative, attending a school board meeting or even keeping an eye out for the names of local figures in the news, simple steps toward being more engaged can help make actual change in your community.

While Washington, D.C. may seem like the beating heart of the American political world, the key to standing up for your own interests is closer to home than you may think.