In recent years — and decades — state governments and courts from across the United States have taken away the power of hundreds of thousands of local governments to pass desperately needed progressive reforms. Communities are being told they have no authority over things like rent laws, employer relations, public education, broadband, antidiscrimination, fossil fuel extraction, and ecosystem protection.

Yet in the face of this assault on local democracy the Left’s response has often been muted and ineffective. It has not prioritized communities’ actual democratic control over these issues. Local politics are increasingly held up as a bastion of hope, but the power — or lack thereof — which cities and communities actually possess is rarely fully examined.

A particular preemption bill may be lambasted: “Congrats on That New Citywide Minimum Wage. Now Republicans Are Going to Try to Kill It”; “Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote To Outlaw Fracking Bans.” Egregious examples of democracy’s absence — like in Flint or Detroit — go viral.