Civics 101: New Hampshire

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. 

At the top of New Hampshire's judicial branch, five justices comprise the state Supreme Court. They don't have as much power as the illustrious name would imply, but they do still have quite a bit. On today's episode, we walk through the life of a supreme court case.

Every bill has to visit both the New Hampshire House and the Senate before it can become state law, and the deadline when they must cross over from one to the other is called, well, crossover day. Every year, the legislature kicks into high gear as lawmakers rush to meet this deadline. On today's episode, we go behind the scenes of New Hampshire lawmaking to find out how crossover even happens and what it means for the rest of us. 

New Hampshire may not have a reputation for farmland the way Midwestern states do, but agriculture is a pillar of our identity. The executive department that oversees New Hampshire farms does a lot more than just meat inspections (though they do plenty of those). Today, we take a trip inside the Department of Agriculture. 

Before any bill can become law in New Hampshire, it has to withstand a dose of public scrutiny, in the form of a hearing to which absolutely everyone is invited. Today's episode is about the power, as well as the shortcomings, of public hearings. 

Town meetings are a New Hampshire institution. It's where all the year's town business and elections are voted on by citizens in town halls and community centers around the state. But for the uninitiated, town meeting can be confusing. Daniela Allee breaks down the history and function of this annual tradition. Find more Civics 101: NH 

When you visit the state house in Concord, you might see some well dressed people wearing bright orange name tags: lobbyists. What do lobbyists do and how does lobbying work? And is their shady reputation really deserved? www.civics101podcast.org/newhampshire

You don't have to be a political junkie to recognize their face. The governor is everywhere: kissing babies, giving speeches, so on and so forth. On today's episode, we break down precisely what power the governor holds and who constrains that power.  We spoke with R. Stuart Wallace, a professor of New Hampshire History at NHTI. 

Our lives leave behind a paper trail: birth certificates, marriage licenses, businesses licenses. So we're not just sharing landmark moments with the people we love. We're also sharing them with the Secretary of State's office. But besides keeping keeping records, what else does this office do? And what role does it play in our day to day lives? Find more Civics 101: NH 

Here's the thing -  we here at Civics 101: New Hampshire are not money people. We don't really do “math” and we avoid opening our bank apps at all costs. That's why we decided to grab the fiscal bull by the horns and learn about New Hampshire's budget. We have a lot of questions, like, um, what is the budget? Who writes it, and what do we spend money on? And how are New Hampshire's spending decisions different from other states? In part one, we trace the life of the budget, from when it's a glimmer in the eye of a state agency to a full-grown piece of legislation.

In our second episode about New Hampshire's state budget, we crack open the budget and look at what exactly we spend all our money on.  www.civics101podcast.org/newhampshire/