Those of you who read Friday’s transcript of a conversation with George Mason law professor Ilya Somin, about his forthcoming book, might appreciate Joel Stein‘s latest “Awesome Column” in TIME magazine. It offers a humorous example of “democracy and political ignorance” in action.

In my seven years here [in Los Angeles], I have not had one conversation about what our mayor does, and I have talked to our mayor several times. There is no social shaming that comes with knowing nothing about local politics. Fewer Angelenos can name the mayor of this city than can name the mayor of Pawnee, Ind., on Parks and Recreation. I am assuming here that the cast and writing staff of Parks and Recreation know who the mayor of Pawnee is.

Only 20.8% of registered voters–fewer than 400,000 people–went to the polls in the March mayoral primary, despite the fact that the candidates had 40 debates and spent a record $19 million. That may sound like a lot to you, but to us it’s just the budget of a Philip Seymour Hoffman vehicle. Our previous mayoral election attracted 18% of voters. Bill Clinton, when he visited last month, called the low turnout “ridiculous” and something “we can’t tolerate.” When Angelenos heard that Clinton was in town and said that, we thought, That explains the traffic on the 405.

As Eric Garcetti, who won the primary, told me, “I got 33% of the 20% turnout of the 49% of the population registered to vote. I had a landslide with 2.6% of the population.” His new campaign strategy is to ask each voter to tell five people a day about him, which is the same strategy that won me the vice presidency of my high school.