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Relatively recently I have gained a lot of interest in the study of politics and government. Naturally, with this newfound interest, I want to get involved in my local government but I'm not sure where to start nor am I sure of what I can do. The only way I've ever been involved is voting but I would like to do more. Thank you.

Xirec
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    The answer to this, bar simply "start with local politics", would depend heavily on your country of residence. Different countries are organised politically in different ways. – oerkelens Mar 23 '18 at 08:15
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    I would like to answer this question. But different countries have different political systems which have different ways to get involved. So in order to answer this question we need at least a country tag. It would also help if you would tell us how much time you are willing to invest. – Philipp Mar 23 '18 at 09:41
  • Related: What's my change power in a democratic society? – Philipp Mar 23 '18 at 11:16
  • Visiting your local politician is universal, when talking about any kind of political system. China, Russia, even war zone Syria has a local representive to talk to. And public records of government activity are often transcribed, and available. In a oral culture, the village elder would be their equivalent. – WanderWillow Mar 23 '18 at 11:53

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There are a long list of options.You can first communicate with your local representative through phone, email, social media, or in person. They should be able to give you a first-hand account of the political process and opportunities available.

Alternatively, you can attend free or paid lectures, if possible at a local university to get some understanding of the political process, and what being part of it involves, at a personal, day to day level.

Engage with political interest groups close to your heart, and perhaps volunteer for a political organization or campaign.

Or, if you want to be involved, but not that extensively, there are plenty of public government events, tours, and political debates to be viewed in person.

There is also always the option to view a visual or written record - in the United States for example there is C-Span, the Library of Congress, and local libraries with transcripts.

WanderWillow
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  • Let's just mass neg the guy that answers the broad question. Because negging is fun, and we're too lazy to even say what is so objectionable about seeing your local politician, and getting politically aware. <- I did expect things to be bad. But if you can mass neg my answer, why bother participating. As it is no longer about the answer, but hassling those that dare to answer from life experience. – WanderWillow Mar 23 '18 at 11:24
  • Worth noting that not all countries' systems provide a "local representative". – owjburnham Mar 23 '18 at 13:14
  • In the ones where a political system and functioning government exists, there is. It depends on the extent of representation, and the extent of political freedom certainly. Even authoritarian systems employ representatives, even if they are nothing more than administrators for the government-at-large. Obviously for that definition, ISIS held territory in Syria would not be such. But certainly Kurdish or Syrian government held areas would. – WanderWillow Mar 23 '18 at 13:35
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    I more meant countries that use party list PR with no local element to it. – owjburnham Mar 23 '18 at 13:57
  • Even with party list, there is usually a local office for that party list member or a party office for electoral purposes. – WanderWillow Mar 23 '18 at 14:13
  • I live in a pretty well-functioning democracy, but the whole concept of "local representative" is utterly outlandish here. People are indeed represented by parties, but the national government has no "local" ties. Not a single member of parliament represents any geographical area, nobody even knows or cares where they hail from. That is not to say you cannot figure out who is responsible for a certain dossier within the party of your choice, and you can contact them, but they are about as local as the moon. The assumption that the whole world looks like America is hardly justifiable. – oerkelens Mar 25 '18 at 13:07
  • You are assuming the person you are talking to comes from America (which I don't), and bases their understanding on that. xD Though seriously, 'local representative' here is purposely loosely defined because there is not just central government politics, but local politics. Given that this question is very broad, a lot of people would count as a local representative (or someone with an understanding of politics), including mayors, council members, tribal chiefs, and not just direct representatives of the central government (and the question says local government). – WanderWillow Mar 25 '18 at 14:16