By Ray Nothstine, a senior writer and editor and a Future of Freedom Fellow at State Policy Network

As the presidential election drew to a decisive close, social media and news outlets again leaned into a frenzy of reactions. While many emotions are genuine, this behavior should not define a self-governing society. Why should we have such a low view of self-governance given all that we’ve inherited in America? 

After all, our constitutional system, grounded in robust federalism, is designed to keep most power and decision making at the state and local levels. 

One of the hopes of this presidential outcome is that the souls that are less inclined to push back against centralized power will rediscover the enduring importance of dispersing political power. While pushback from the states against federal overreach is often shaped by partisan preferences, it remains an essential tool for curtailing an imperial presidency and agency overreach. 

While nearly everybody wants to lower the temperature and improve political discourse, elections are important, particularly those down-ballot races that are too often neglected by the incessant national noise. It’s vital to be reminded that our local elected officials have much more impact on the citizenry and it’s their decisions that move and influence the rhythms of American life. 

As an example, how we vote is directly shaped by the states. 

On Election Day, voters in Nevada made further decisions about how they vote – rejecting ranked choice voting, open primaries, and backing voter ID. Several other states rejected ranked-choice voting, and is likely to be repealed by Alaskans. The lone victory for ranked choice comes from voters in the District of Columbia. 

Several states solidified their belief through ballot initiatives or state constitutional amendments that only U.S. citizens be allowed to vote in elections. 

For the first time, Oklahoma voters ousted a state supreme court justice for rulings many saw as partisan attempts to stifle the people’s voice in the legislature. 

Growing crime was a concern in many communities across the US and voters in California easily passed a ballot measure that undid a previous statewide vote, again making it law that most retail-level thefts are felonies. 

A California prosecutor in the Bay Area was removed from office by voters for excessively soft-on-crime decision making. The mayor of Oakland was recalled because of frustrations over the local government’s inability to effectively address property and violent crime. 

Many of us have seen videos of a collapse of the rule of law in some communities and cities and voters made a resounding statement. 

The massive wave for school choice was stunted slightly by voters in Nebraska and Kentucky, but the setback serves as a reminder that this issue is local and state-specific and it’s still likely that popularity for school choice will expand in 2025. 

While a Donald Trump administration likely carries further opportunities to curb federal agency power, the most vital message that elections should remind us of is that “We The People” are in charge of the government – and the government closest to us influences us and matters the most. We are not servants or serfs or a constituency to be scolded at or talked down to, but people capable of governing ourselves, improving our communities together, and of careful deliberation and compromise. 

There is a great line from a president from 100 years ago—Calvin Coolidge—who said, “Where the people themselves are the government, it needs no argument to demonstrate that what the people cannot do, their government cannot do.” After a contentious presidential election, it’s as good a time as any to not only think about that enduring truth, but to act on it.