Civics 101: New Hampshire NHPR

The state's cops, firefighters, and building inspectors all fall under the umbrella of one big, vital government office: the Department of Safety. On today's episode, a tour of this huge department and the ways it has probably affected your life.

The online realm of government-run “.gov” websites is vast, confusing—and sometimes crucial to modern democracy. On this episode, we venture into that wild landscape and we discuss government cyber-security in New Hampshire.

On this episode of Civics 101: New Hampshire, we're telling the stories behind New Hampshire's many borders, boundaries, and district lines. We talk with a historian about how the state border acquired its convoluted shape, and we dig into an ongoing challenge to the way New Hampshire voting districts are drawn. 

One of New Hampshire's most distinctive civic institutions is the Executive Council, an elected group of five people from across the state who vote to approve or veto many of the Governor's decisions. In this episode, Nick Capodice goes for a jaunt into the history and function of the Executive Council. 

Some jobs are just too local for the state government to handle, but too large for a town to deal with, and that's where counties come in. On this episode, we hear from the people who run county offices in New Hampshire about how this in-between governmental structure holds the whole state together. 

New Hampshire's legislature is not run by professional politicians, it's run by regular people who volunteer their time to make laws. This week, we investigate the advantages of a citizen legislature, as well as the disadvantages.