When the People Decide, a podcast from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, explores the promise — and sometimes peril — that ballot initiatives have brought to American democracy by telling the stories of people who have organized initiative campaigns across the country.
America’s founders were famously skeptical of direct democracy, citing fears of mob rule if people had too much power. Since then, however, the initiative and referendum process has emerged as one way that citizens in some states can vote directly on policy and join forces to bring issues they care about directly to their fellow voters.
When the People Decide is hosted and reported by Jenna Spinelle and produced by LWC Studios for the McCourtney Institute.
Top of Mind: Is government transparency essential in a democracy?
We're excited to bring you an episode fro Top of Mind with Julie Rose (https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind), a podcast from BYU Radio about becoming better citizens and kinder neighbors.
Government transparency is a basic tenet of American democracy. But the U.S. Constitution was drafted in total secrecy and the founders believed they couldn’t have done the job otherwise. When is openness best in a democracy, and when does the cost outweigh the benefit? In this podcast episode Julie Rose hear the case for more openness from a citizen who used public records law to hold a state university accountable. A political historian explains how the founding fathers justified drafting the Constitution in secret and how that shaped the form of democracy the US has today.
Rose also speaks with elected legislators from three different states grappling with the best way to balance the financial and logistical challenges of making government records open to the public. The lawmakers also differ in how much of their own email and text communication should be open to the public. A political scientist who’s studied transparency in democracy describes how openness can empower special interest groups and make political gridlock worse. Finally, the episode discusses systemic solutions that could make government transparency work better for all Americans.
26 Sept 2023
Local News Matters: Public policy as a tool to support local news
If you enjoyed our episode on civic media, you'll want to check out this episode the podcast Local News Matters, which explores issues in local news and democracy. The show highlights the innovative work of local newsrooms and the crucial questions they face about their role in American democracy.
This episode features an interview with Steve Waldman, the founder of Rebuild Local News, a nonprofit focused on using public policy to support journalism. In this episode, Steve talks host Tim Reagan-Porter about the history of public policy as it relates to news, the perils of government involvement, the nuances of crafting policy that balances multiple goals and concerns, and the state of local news. Steve also reflects on his time at Report for America, shares reasons for optimism and offers advice for young journalists trying to balance careers and their mental health.
Local News Matters podcast (https://localnewsmatterspodcast.com/)
Rebuild Local News (https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/)
21 Aug 2023
Taking a civic leap of faith
The final episode of the season takes a step back from individual democracy reforms to look at what it will take to create a healthy civic culture where power is shared across the community — rather than concentrated in the hands of a few stakeholders. Eric Liu believes this can happen and is working tirelessly to spread his idea of civic faith across the U.S.
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