If we’re talking about government on this page, it’s usually to point out the myriad deficiencies and bad decisions perpetrated by the people in charge.

Today that’s not the case — we’re here to praise a move by Butler Township Commissioners, who on Tuesday announced they were launching a Student Municipal Representative Program. Starting this fall two students from the Butler School District will sit on the board — although they will not vote or have access to executive sessions.

“I think it’s a good way to try to get people interested in local government,” said Dave Zarnick, president of the township’s Board of Commissioners.

Zarnick is correct. He’s also correct in expressing concerns about the number of young people involved in local government: there aren’t enough.

That’s unfortunate and dangerous, because the best way to learn about many things is to participate in them. And knowledge you don’t use often slips quietly away as the years go by.

We’ve known (and preached) this for decades. In 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that education is “the very foundation of good citizenship.”

But today far too many Americans are ignorant of the basic tenants of American democracy — and the situation has been getting worse for years.

In 2016 only one-quarter of Americans could name all three branches of government, according to a survey by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. That’s a 10 percent decline since 2011.

If you think that’s bad, hold on to your hat.

Nearly one-third of Americans couldn’t name any branch of government, according to the same survey. Only 33 percent of Americans know how the U.S. Supreme Court actually works. And 40 percent of the country doesn’t know that it’s Congress, not the president, that has the power to formally declare war.

That’s very, very bad. And that’s just how much — or little, depending on your perspective — Americans know about the federal government.

Imagine how inscrutable municipal governments — cities, townships, boroughs and school districts — are to many people.

What’s a zoning hearing board? How does a planning commission work? What do supervisors and commissioners do with their time after they win an election?

Perhaps that’s why Butler County just hosted a municipal election that featured a wide variety of races — from mayoral seats to township supervisors — with either one or no candidates on the ballot.

The township is not the first municipal government to invite students to participate in one form or another. But they are the latest to try this approach — and it’s one in which we believe.

It’s critical for students to become integrated into the governments that oversee the communities where they live, work, and play. The people who make up these municipal governments create the policies which most directly impact their lives. Participating — in any way — can only help strengthen our local municipalities.