LOR-Gallup Survey: Local Leadership in America
We often hear about American disengagement, but new research from LOR and Gallup shows an abundance of civic energy at the local level that's just waiting to be harnessed.
In recent years, public discourse about civic life in America often emphasized disengagement and decline, but Unlocking Local Leadership—a first-of-its-kind survey, by Gallup and LOR—tells a more nuanced story. The survey, which examined why Americans step forward to help their communities, found that at the local level, Americans are engaged, and many want to be even more involved. While this energy is widespread, we also looked at 13 demographic and community factors that show where it is more abundant, and where it might be thin. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the biggest takeaways about how that civic energy shows up, especially among young people, and we invite you to explore the data to better understand where opportunities exist to encourage even more involvement and leadership.
Half of Americans say they want to be more involved in their communities.
A growing narrative about disconnection suggests that Americans are pulling away from their local communities, but our data show that half of all American adults actually want to be more involved in their communities. Only a small share say they would prefer to be less involved.
This desire cuts across geography, ideology, and socioeconomic status. Differences by income, education, and employment status are modest, suggesting that the appetite for community participation is not limited to those with greater resources or flexibility. Where variation does emerge, it often aligns with life stage: Younger adults and those newer to their communities are more likely to want greater involvement, hinting at moments when connection and contribution feel especially salient. Moreover, many of these Americans have ideas that could make a positive impact on their communities.
Two in three Americans have ideas to make a positive impact.
According to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there are roughly 267 million adults in the United States, and our findings show that 67.5% say they have ideas for how to make a positive impact in their local communities. This amounts to more than 180 million adults with ideas that could have a positive impact on their communities.
As the charts below plainly show, these ideas are not concentrated in any one part of the country or among any single group. Ideas come from people with different age groups, income levels, educational backgrounds, political affiliations, and religious traditions. They live in rural communities and urban centers, in every census region, and in places with very different economic and demographic profiles.
The single most predictive factor for having an idea that could have a positive impact? Perception of social cohesion, or—more plainly—a sense of trust and belonging in one’s community. Ninety-one percent of respondents who report a high sense of social cohesion have ideas for making an impact while only 49% of Americans who report low social cohesion say they have ideas that could make an impact. This suggests that the core challenge facing communities is not sparking creativity, but rather creating environments where people feel welcomed, supported, and valued. What’s more, that same sense of connection can encourage greater local leadership.
1 in 5 Americans are motivated to lead a project that benefits their communities.
Motivation to lead community projects is not widespread, but it is also not strongly divided by identity, ideology, or geography. Nationally, only about one in five Americans say they feel somewhat or very motivated to organize or lead a community initiative, a level that remains remarkably consistent across many factors such as age, income, education, political affiliation, religion, geography, and length of residency in community.
What does seem to play a significant factor is the perceived sense of community cohesion. Those with a high sense of community cohesion are over three times more likely to report being motivated to lead than those with a low sense of community cohesion (see “Attachment & Orientation” tab of chart).
Young people report feeling the least amount of community cohesion.
Across almost every factor—from feeling pride in their community to feeling comfortable expressing their opinions—young Americans (18 to 34) report the lowest sense of community cohesion. In fact, only about half report feeling like valued members of their communities, or that they are emotionally connected to their communities. This represents a significant opportunity, though. Our results show that young people are among the folks who most want be more involved and they have ideas that could make an impact. So improving a sense of connection to their communities is key to getting these young people in the game and moving the needle on local leadership.
The barriers to leadership for young people extend beyond having time and resources.
The biggest barriers to young people leading in their communities mirror those of other age groups—not having the financial support or time—but some barriers are more pronounced for young people. Those challenges include not knowing how to get started, not having a mentor or guide to help them, not feeling like they have the skills or knowledge, and not being encouraged to lead. These are solvable issues, and they provide a great starting point for community leaders, philanthropy, and policymakers to take action.
Connect With Us
Learn more about this survey, access the data, and review the methodology by visiting Gallup’s research hub. If you would like to learn more about LOR and why we invested in this research, email our research analyst, Daniel Read, at daniel@lorfoundation.org.
Methods
All data included in this article (and more) can be found on the Gallup research hub by clicking the Download Data button. The first outcome (Ideally, how much would you like to be involved in your local community?) was presented as a five-point scale, which was reduced to a balanced more involved/no change in involvement/ less involved scale. The second outcome (I have ideas for ways to make a positive impact in my local community.) was presented as a four-point scale, which was reduced to a binary agree/disagree scale. The third outcome (How motivated do you feel to organize or lead a project, initiative, or program in your local community?) was presented as a four-point scale, which was reduced to a binary not at all or slightly motivated/somewhat or very motivated scale. Finally, the community cohesion data is an average of seven survey questions that used a four-point agreement scale. A composite score was first created for each respondent (average of the total items answered out of the seven items) and then based on the weighted mean of this composite score. “Low” perception of cohesion and connection was defined as one standard deviation (SD) or more below the weighted average, “moderate” was defined as plus or minus one SD away from the weighted average, and “high” was defined as greater than the weighted average by one SD or more.