Local elections

I have always been an advocate for political parties. From the beginning of the Republic, they have been essential. I continue to urge people to be active in the Party of their choice. However, I see their value at the local level as less than at the State and National levels. At the national level, they provide important information for the voter, especially when each party more or less continues to support the interests of different groups of citizens. At the local level, though, particularly in smaller communities, there is ample opportunity for the voter to gain accurate knowledge about candidates. They aren't as dependent on their partisan label. They may know them personally and be able to judge their competence. They may have friends who know one or the other of them and can share information. They may meet them on their own front steps as they campaign door to door. In many local elections partisan labels voting may do more harm than good. When people vote blindly for "their" Party's candidate, they discourage local Parties from competing on the basis of a candidate's ability and experience. It is likely that a Party will then simply pick Party loyalists of no particular qualification for office, knowing that the voters will vote regardless for the Party's choice. This too often denies the community quality candidates. We benefit when Parties nominate competitive candidates, requiring voters to choose based on merit and not just a D or an R label. When people are independent in their voting (while still being loyal members of their Party), their Party must recruit outstanding competitive candidates to run under their label if they want to win. We end up with better government, with the Parties still playing an important role, as they work hard to find and persuade well-qualified people to run for office. John Bing is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University and writes a by-weekly newsletter at johnb0c.substack.com