American City & County: Politically driven incidents over the last few years at all levels of government have fundamentally shaken public perception about the health of America’s democracy. Administrators have likewise been impacted. A new study from the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy found that more than 60 percent of the state’s local leaders ranked democracy in the United States as a whole “poorly,” at four or below on a scale of 10.
The findings on opinions of democracy, which were published last month, are consistent with the results of last year’s similar survey. This isn’t surprising, given what’s happened in the state in recent years in addition to national incidents like the Jan. 6 insurrection.