Gen Z doesn't believe in government. The solution is closer to home than you think. | Opinion

If you really think you can change things through the government, you’re either an idiot or a liar.

That’s not how I feel. But I can tell you, as a 23-year-old who has spent the last five years organizing youth support around zoning ordinances, local elections, sexual assault prevention laws and everything in between, this is a widespread belief in my generation about anything political.

Young people do not believe in government. On Election Day, Gen Z did not turn out for Democrats, whom they saw as too entrenched in the establishment. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris vastly underperformed with young voters compared with President Joe Biden in 2020.

According to the latest Harvard Youth Poll, only 11% of those ages 18-29 feel that the United States is “generally headed in the right direction.” Trust in our legal and political institutions are at historic lows. For a generation born into countless wars, financial collapse and political gridlock − and that came of age during a global pandemic − this makes sense.

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Democracy is at risk, but not because of actions by whoever occupies the White House.

A recent survey found that only 27% of Americans ages 18-25 “agree strongly” that democracy is the best system of government, compared with 48% for all ages. This is an overlooked problem that directly endangers our most essential societal institutions. And I don’t think it has any national solution.

But it has a local one: Young people need to get involved and change local government.

I was a 19-year-old political candidate

When I was 19, I ran for local office in my college town of in Hanover, New Hampshire. What started as an exercise in youthful rebellion turned into a multiyear campaign around reforming zoning laws and restoring civic participation.

I saw directly how municipalities could play a crucial role in addressing the issues that young people care about, like housing, climate change, education, transportation and public safety.

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I spent a lot of time talking to other students about local government. The hardest part was trying to convince them that a local election could actually accomplish something meaningful. At first, many people told me that their voices did not matter, that I was running a pointless campaign and that town hall couldn’t change anything.

But once I showed them the connection between pressing issues and concrete policy changes, ones that could be impacted directly by youth participation in local politics, engagement skyrocketed. For instance, I would bring up how only a few hundred votes on this level could help change the burdensome zoning laws that prevented affordable housing in the area.

Even though I lost my first election, we nearly doubled voter turnout for a town race.

So, the following year, I wrote and petitioned for a town zoning district with policies that could alleviate our region’s chronic housing shortage. With our team of newly engaged young voters, we got the article on the town ballot and it passed.

These new changes directly led to new housing being constructed, including a 285-unit apartment building. If we, as students, could organize and make change like this happen, so can young people across the country.

But we’ve built a system where the only elections we pay attention to are the farthest away from our communities. That’s why we feel so disconnected.

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Our perspectives are needed and missing in local politics. There are countless campaigns, board meetings, volunteer councils and petitions that impact our daily lives. Young people need to focus on town hall, get involved and run for local office.

We can only build back trust in democracy by actually using it to address the issues we care about.

Hateful messages, personal insults

For this to happen, local government must be made truly accessible.

During my time getting involved, even at 19, I received hateful messages, stinging opinion columns and personal insults because I was trying something different. I had to parse through old and broken websites to find meetings or deadlines.

Local government officials need to foster youth engagement, not shut it down. Ensuring equitable participation, including by digitizing municipal resources and meetings, is a good start. Establishing youth councils, engaging schools directly with municipalities and actively supporting young people’s voices are essential ‒ not only to the health of our towns but also to our entire system of government.

If you’re like me, completely frustrated with the way things are going in our country, you don’t have to sit on the sidelines.

The halls of Congress may seem far away, but town hall is just down the block. See you there.

David Millman is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford Law School and a former candidate for local office in New Hampshire. 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If education, housing matter to Gen Z, local races must, too | Opinion