The United States of America is the oldest democracy on planet Earth. Since 1776-ish, this country has placed its planning and its future in the hands of a few duly elected representatives who are selected of the people, by the people, and for the people (at least, in theory anyway). 

This ritual of electing governance doesn't only take place on the national stage: From sea to shining sea, you'll find politicians at the local level, making local decisions that have local impact.

 

Blame it on The Man. (Source)

Don't scoff; the decisions made by city officials can have a far more direct impact on peoples' lives than those made at the national level. That's because they're decisions made on behalf of people you might actually meet, on things that will affect everything from the daily commute to work to how much you pay at restaurants.

There are a few different types of local politicians, but the two big offices are mayor (like a town president) and councilors (like the town's Congress). Now, your town may use other words for councilors like selectmen or representatives or elders, but they're all the same thing (your dad may have a few extra names for them that we can't really print here). 

There are also sheriffs (like a town, uh, sheriff), who are also elected by people, but since a sheriff is a law enforcement position we're going to focus more on the unarmed public officials.

So what kind of money can you hope to make as a local politician? While the average for mayors is around $60,000 and the average for city councilors is a bit lower, wages for local politicians can range from "nothing" to "holy cow that's a lotta dough" (source). It all depends on how big the village or town or city or metropolis or Googleplex is and how much time you spend on the job.

 

Not the Vikings (burn). (Source)

Now obviously, there's a lot of power that local politicians don't have. For instance, they (thankfully) can't declare the town to be at war―otherwise the annual Thanksgiving Day football game might get really ugly. They also don't get to overrule federal or state law, so if the state of Minnesota says that speeding is illegal, but the city of Minneapolis says you can go as fast as you like, guess who wins?

So then what do local governments do, exactly? They do things like pass ordinances (a fancy word for laws that only affect the city or town), decide how to spend the money, and make sure that all wicked witches are undeniably and reliably dead. 

As the saying goes, "all politics is local." If you're still inclined to scoff at the local pols, just imagine for a second trying to get the people you hated in high school to vote for you.

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