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.

Some 2,500 newspapers have closed in the U.S since 2005, leaving entire communities without a source for local news, as well as with limited means to keep their government officials accountable. What if there was a way to fill the news desert, with an entirely new approach to informing the public?

When Linda Harris began working at city hall in her hometown of Decatur, Georgia, she noticed that the relationship between local government leaders and their constituents was often tense, or nonexistent. Learn how she changed that relationship and got more people involved in local government.

Amid book bans and restrictions on programming, things seem pretty rough for libraries right now. But that doesn't mean we can't fight for something better. This week, we hear from two librarians working to enhance the role libraries of libraries democracy and civic engagement.

Take a deep dive into the practice of participatory budgeting and learn how it can bring civic power to people who are not normally in the driver's seat on local decisions.

When Linda Harris began working at city hall in her hometown of Decatur, Georgia, she noticed that the relationship between local government leaders and their constituents was often tense, or nonexistent. Learn how she changed that relationship and got more people involved in local government.

Learn what the ballot initiative is through a modern story and a bit of history.

More than any other state, California is obsessed with ballot initiatives — for better, and sometimes worse.

We travel to what some have described as “the most Southern city in the North” to explore a city-level ballot initiative that focuses on the rights of LGBTQ people.

One woman and her online community of adoptees fight for their birth records in 1990s Oregon.

A referendum on the death penalty in Nebraska draws our attention to some of the thornier questions about direct democracy.

By design, ballot initiatives require coalitions that cross party lines to secure the votes needed to win. Some campaign organizers view this rule as an opportunity to create new political coalitions and break through polarization.

State legislatures across the country have taken notice of how ballot initiatives are creating political change. And now they're trying to make it more difficult for citizens to create and pass a ballot measure.

The final episode of the season explores whether ballot initiatives can withstand the challenges they’re up against, and some groups are looking to initiatives as a way to strengthen American democracy.

Jenna Spinelle talks with Kelly Hall of The Fairness Project, one of the groups at the forefront of using ballot initiatives to create policy change at the state and local level.