Joshua Koss is a professor of political science with expertise and interest in Congress, presidency, elections, political media and political communications. During the current fall 2026 semester, Koss teaches American government and a political analysis of "Star Wars" course. In an interview with The Eastern Echo, Koss spoke on the importance of voting, midterm elections and local policy impact.
During the midterm election this November, an array of local proposals and positions, and state and federal office positions will be on the ballot.
Q: Why do you think voting is important?
A: Voting is the bedrock of American democracy. It's the way that voters primarily participate in the electoral process, the process through which decisions are made in this country. Races at every level of government are important. Even in the midterms, where the president is not on the ballot, there are still a lot of important local elections for the state and federal government. Oftentimes these are the people who make really critical decisions and can shape things in various ways with their support of different policies.
Q: Do you think voting has grown in importance over time?
A: I think it has always been important. Maybe in more recent years, there's been a heightened relevance because the awareness of how politics impacts us on an individual level has really increased.
Q: Why do you think there has been an increase in political awareness?
A: I think that awareness has increased because people are paying more attention to politics. Some of this lines up with a lot of the exposure that Trump earned when he first ran for office. He got a lot of people to pay attention, whether for good or bad reasons. I think a lot of people pay more attention now than they did historically, even though what government does has always been of equal importance. We've seen certain cabinet appointments that Trump has made get a lot more attention than they would have historically. There's an increased salience that politics has as a whole, as a lot of different social identities have increased. People who identify from certain groups see how politics directly impacts things like who they can marry. All of that is relevant when people are making the decision of who they are going to vote for or whether they vote at all.
Q: Why do you think young people, including college students, are less likely to vote than older people?
A: There's a lot of reasons. Historically, one of the things that's always been pointed out is lack of a habit. Older people who vote have voted in every election for the past 30 plus years. There's a certain compulsion when you have that level of muscle memory — you sort of just do things. It's just something that's important. On other topics, there's a certain level of cynicism and a lack of understanding of what government does. I would hope that a majority of students in political science have a better sense of that, but many don’t have that sort of exposure. If your only exposure is a high school American government class, maybe voting is something that interested you and it clicked as something important, other times not as much. Young people are also just very busy, and transportation is a problem in some cases. If you’re registered to vote on campus, then it's more accessible, but not everyone does that. As much as I've seen an expansion of ways to vote — early voting is very common in Michigan now and several other states. It's much easier to vote today in Michigan than it was 20 years ago if you’re a younger person, but just because that is true doesn't mean that it's going to solve all of the voting woes when it comes to turnout of the youth.
Q: What can we do to get more young people to go out an vote?
A: I think those steps that have been taken have had an impact, hopefully we will see it increase over time. I also think it is important for young people to be confronted with facts regarding the election, like the contrasts between candidates, what they are voting for, issues on the ballot and why it is important to vote. Really capturing that enthusiasm is key to getting younger voters to turnout, which is why we've seen some campaigns really pivot toward more youth-centric strategies.
Q: What would you say to people who feel like voting doesn't do much to change the world around them?
A: After most elections, you're not going to see an immediate change in the world around you. However, the ability to change the trajectory of policy and have a positive impact in the direction you see fit takes sustained energy. Continuing to vote in election after election for the people that you feel bring about that positive change, or at least oppose the people you feel are making it worse on the other side is really important for that. There's a lot of key issues you can point to depending on your political priorities that you do or do not like, and you can clearly draw a line between a particular election cycle and that particular shift. Making those connections will increase turnout.
Q: Why are midterm elections important and why is it important to vote in them?
A: With midterm elections, it varies state to state, but in Michigan right now we have a lot of key races going on. We have a race for the U.S. Senate and all of the House of Representatives goes up for election. That really forms the makeup of Congress. In this particular election, you can see the party shift in either or both chambers from Republicans to Democrats, and that will change the character of the legislation coming out. In Michigan, the entire state executive branch is up for election. All of those positions that are up for election have more of a direct impact and play a key role on state governments.
Q: Why are local elections important and how can local policies impact people's lives?
A: Local elections are admittedly some of the harder elections to follow because there is less dissemination of information about races. Maybe you’ve only seen yard signs about candidates running for school board and things like that. They're still important jobs and they can impact you in a lot of different ways depending on who controls your city or local government. It might influence property taxes, curfews, ordinances and things like that. Those are things the local government can shape. One of the hot button issues right now is data centers. Local governments do not have absolute control on that, but they can push back when there's efforts to build a data center or some other type of construction project that is not wanted by the constituents. We've seen that even with closing of certain schools and efforts to replace them with different things. There's a lot of different smaller issues. Local governments aren't able to give medicare for all, but you can get a lot of things that will impact your life from a local government.
Q: Why do midterm elections have a lower voter turnout than presidential elections?
A: When anyone thinks of politics, they think of the president first and foremost. I already highlighted that Trump has been a particular lightning rod, but even removing him from the equation, the president has always been this major lightning rod. Whoever the president is tends to inspire people to go to the polls, whether it is to support or oppose them. In the midterms you get a little bit of that. A lot of democratic races this election cycle point that they are a referendum against Trump. That is pretty consistent in every midterm, the out party is always looking to point at the bad things that the president has done and use that to get things through in terms of their elections. It obviously works for some voters, but other voters who feel more comfortable with the current administration don't feel the need to vote. Some of that, again, stems from a sort of misunderstanding of the importance of lower level races, and that the presidency sits at this fulcrum that demands turn out the way that midterms traditionally do not.
Q: What is important to know about this upcoming midterm election?
A: This specific upcoming midterm election can have a really big impact. We’ve already seen with the control of Congress that it will be really important, and with the state government as well. Whether those are in alignment with the current president or not can have a big impact on the political cohesion of them. That political cohesion is in some ways bad if you're opposed to the president and his party, you would want to force a shift there and we’re at a really key point of doing that. We’ve seen some indicators in some policies that are seen out of the other party. Whether those are implemented with the president is less likely, but you might get more resistance toward things like the Iran war. At the local level and state level, traditional importance is maintained there as well. In Michigan, we have a Democrat governor and split representative bodies in terms of who is in control. That could possibly shift depending on who wins these races. You either go with a pattern of continuation or you try to mix it up as far as state executive branches are concerned.
Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to become more civically engaged beyond election season?
A: There's a lot of different ways to do it. I highly encourage looking at what local party chapters are doing, whether it is state level, county or township in some cases. Getting involved there can highlight what the priorities are and if they are in alignment with your own. Public service is an important thing. There are a lot of public sector jobs within the government that are really important and need to be done. Some of those are appointed positions or hired secretarial positions, but they often do a lot of the core governance. One of the misunderstandings that exists is how important the bureaucracy is to maintain things. Implementing what the elected officials do and being part of that infrastructure could be a really impactful way to get yourself involved with civic engagement. I would encourage anyone interested to find some sort of specific cause to latch onto. Just because the election happens doesn't mean all of these battles are over. You need to continue to pressure policy makers to continue to fight for things you want, fight against things that you don't want and stop others from doing things you don't want them to do. Finding ways to get involved with the groups that are doing on-the-ground work and advocating for things you care about is really meaningful.
