all politics is local

proverb

Ultimately, constituents and voters are concerned most about issues that affect their personal lives and home communities, and they vote accordingly.

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Meanings

proverb

alternative all politics are local

  1. USgovernmentUltimately, constituents and voters are concerned most about issues that affect their personal lives and home communities, and they vote accordingly.

    But in the end, all politics is local, and almost every race is decided by local issues.

    2002 June 21, Mitch Frank, “The White House Goes Local”, in Time, retrieved 17 Aug 2015
    3 more examples

    "The campaign never ends," said the 44-year-old Congressman. . . . "I win by reaching out to people one by one, through relentless retail politics." In other words, Mr. Bacchus is betting his congressional career on the adage that all politics is local.

    1993 December 7, Clifford Krauss, “On Congress's Home Front, Faith That All Politics Is Indeed Local”, in New York Times, retrieved 17 Aug 2015

    [A]ll politics is local and Kerry North is more local than most. In the electorate, the view is that Mr Ferris got in because . . . he has been an assiduous local councillor and constituency worker, painstakingly building up a formidable Sinn Fein machine that has delivered on local issues.

    2002 May 20, David McKittrick (Ireland Correspondent), "Kerry kicks out former party leader and replaces him with former gun-runner," Independent (UK) (retrieved 17 Aug 2015)

    "All politics is local. I believe in a grassroots approach that is founded on strong representation for constituents."

    2007 September 14, “Politics: John O'Toole (incumbent)”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 17 Aug 2015

Origin

Variously attributed to Associated Press Washington bureau chief Byron Price, said to have first used this term in 1932, and to Chicago writer Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936). Derivative of British English professor, Dr. Samuel Johnson's 18th Century aphorism, "All virtue is local".

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

all politics is local. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20politics%20is%20local

MLA

“all politics is local.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20politics%20is%20local. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all politics is local,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20politics%20is%20local.

Source: all politics is local on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.