Local patriotism may ease sour feelings about politics

Research finds people who report loving their town are more likely to take part in local civic life, and brief experiments that prompt hometown feelings raised small donations compared with control groups.

Eileen Higgins won a historic victory in December as Miami's first woman mayor and the city's first Democratic mayor since 1997. Voter interest was low in that runoff: about four in five registered voters did not vote. Low turnout in municipal elections is common across the United States and often concentrates decisions in a small, unrepresentative group. Research by political scientist Sean Richey examines how feelings about one's town relate to local civic participation. Key findings: - In a national survey of 500 Americans about their feelings toward their town, about half said they "liked" where they lived, 20% said they "loved" it, 25% expressed no positive feelings, and 3% said they "hated" it. - Loving one's town strongly predicted higher rates of local political activity, including attending council meetings, contacting officials, volunteering for campaigns, and discussing local issues with others. - Local patriotism also correlated with greater trust in local government. - Two experiments tested whether prompts about hometown feelings changed behavior. In one, 18% of people primed to consider their feelings donated $1 to address a local problem versus 3% in the control group. - A replication found 8% donated when prompted to think about loving their town and 5% when prompted to think about hate, while no one in the unprompted control group donated. Summary: The research suggests that emotional attachment to place is linked to higher local civic participation and trust in local government. Simple prompts that make people consider their feelings about their town produced measurable increases in small acts of civic giving. How much these effects would change overall turnout or long-term engagement across different communities is undetermined at this time.