Illustration by Elizabeth Owen

Editors’ note: Opinion articles published by The Watchdog provide perspectives of the writer separate from general Watchdog reporting.

Don’t like the government? Vote!

By Jackson Marshall

It is no secret that many Americans feel as if their vote is drowned out amidst the interests of the multi-billion dollar lobbying industry, the private donors of our candidates’ campaigns and the somewhat contentious United States Electoral College.

In fact, these conclusions are supported by the findings of a study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern, which found that the court of public opinion has little to no effect on policy decisions.

In a political landscape where reckless executive orders can threaten to alienate our inalienable rights with no hope for universal injunctions (court rulings ceasing the enforcement of a law)  to provide complete relief, as ruled in Trump v. CASA, it is imperative that we, as constituents, do everything in our power to improve our own material conditions as much as possible.

While these qualms contain valid critiques of the American Democratic system, the same cannot be said of state-level or even local elections. This can mean statewide votes on certain bills, the election of your county sheriff, mayoral elections and other various opportunities to exercise your democratic agency. Participation in said elections are crucial, as the observed effect on your daily life may hold greater potential than our federal elections.

It may seem counterintuitive that the smaller the election, the larger the potential impact on your life, but policy is dictated on many levels and can therefore affect you on each of these levels.

Considering that we live in an incredibly flawed representative democracy, participation in local elections where our vote is directly and democratically influential is invaluable.

Public interest is indisputably underserved, and one of the few legal routes to combating this dismissal of servitude from our elected servants is by participating wherever we can.

I will not deny that abstinence from these elections is a statement in and of itself, but these attempts at protest are ineffective when our opinions are rarely heeded anyway. In times where trust in our government is eroding, it is of the utmost importance that we serve ourselves when they certainly will not.

Like the government? Vote!

By Trenton Schroering

Per a Johns Hopkins study, fewer than one in five Americans can name their state legislators. The percentage who could name their city councilman, school board member, district judge or sheriff may be even lower than that. 

While municipal officials are less known, they’re far from unimportant. Roads, parks and other infrastructure projects are often handled locally. Municipal government officials influence the business climate, while also setting local law enforcement priorities and developing school curricula. 

Only around a quarter of voters even cast a vote in local elections, according to the National Civic League. That effect is exacerbated when local elections are held during years without a presidential election, which is something that will be the case this year. On the 2026 ballot for Kentuckians are numerous local races unlikely to attract the attention or participation they deserve.

If you encounter an issue in your community, odds are that it’s a local official who can fix it. The politicians who have the most direct, day-to-day impact on people’s lives are the politicians the fewest people have heard of. 

The lack of publicity and attention given to municipal races leads to a disproportionate few—those who do regularly vote, show up to local government meetings and call their local officials—shaping the municipal policy that impacts everyone. Although on the surface a cause for concern, it demonstrates that the only barrier between you and a say in your government is the willingness to participate. 

Municipal governments invite and encourage that participation. Public comment periods offer opportunities to directly appeal to officials who value their constituents’ concerns. Furthermore, local politicians are oftentimes so accessible as to be directly reachable by phone call or email and usually more than willing to sit down for coffee and talk policy.

It’s easy to define “politics” as beginning and ending in Washington, but politics surrounds us all and is less impenetrable than the general consensus. Translating your want to improve your community into genuine policy change can be as simple as showing up. 

This generation of advocates should heed that call, changing the world from the bottom up by educating themselves on municipal races and engaging with local leaders.