Every decade or so, a new set of political ideas bursts onto the campaign scene, catapulting one major party to dominance, the other into the doldrums. The last major shift was the 1994 election, which gave the Republicans control of Congress.

Who will be surprised next time? In their search for the next wave of issues, party leaders should look hard at local politics, where the relationship between citizens and government has been changing rapidly. Momentum is building behind three new issues:

• Homeowner protection - Land use is a rising concern in all kinds of neighborhoods. People are turning out in droves to oppose developments - from affordable housing units to shopping malls - that threaten to reduce their property values, ruin the view from their living room windows, or make them fearful for their safety. In response, some public officials are launching large-scale planning efforts that allow residents to set the conditions for growth, understand some of the trade-offs involved in these decisions, and decide, to some extent, how plots of land can be used.

People want to have some control over their surroundings, and we can expect at least one political party to recognize this desire. Candidates may adopt more forceful language - "homeowner protection" or "neighborhood rule" - to describe the newer, more participatory kinds of land-use planning. They may also paint their opponents as elitists, claiming that traditional zoning processes put the control of land in the hands of government and developers.

• No taxation without authorization - Some cities and towns are inviting residents to take a stronger role in the budgeting process, engaging them in public meetings that help people assess the financial picture and decide for themselves how tax revenues should be spent. Officials usually initiate these projects because they are facing budget shortfalls, but the resulting public discussion often leads to unexpected results. As the community begins to set priorities and decide how to pay for them, citizens and officials alike seem to move away from the assumption that government resources alone are the answer to every public problem. The traditional debate about taxation and the size of government may be moving to a new paradigm, in which citizens ask for and receive more of a say in where their money goes.

This shift also suggests new possibilities for campaigning. Candidates may promise voters more control over their tax revenues, invoking terms like "citizen-directed budgets." By taking this stand, they can claim their opponents support spending by politicians and lobbyists.

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