Nivea talks with Ramon Perez, Executive Director of the Digital Democracy Project, about DDP's platform letting voters weigh in directly on the bills their representatives are actively debating in Congress. They dig into what real-time input means for voters used to only being heard on Election Day — and why it might be just as valuable for the candidates trying to represent them well.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.

Expand Democracy's Rob Richie and Nivea Krishnan sit in for a team catch-up on the state of American democracy and the latest news in the democracy reform space. They unpack Trump's prime-time election speech and the abrupt firing of the EAC commissioners, and what it means for critical thinking heading into 2026. They also dig into the age and succession gap plaguing Congress, spotlight proportional representation and campaign finance innovations, and share the democracy reforms that have them hopeful.

In this episode, Rob talks with Sam Wang about his unlikely journey from Princeton neuroscience lab to congressional candidate — and back to election reform. Sam shares what running for office taught him firsthand about the outsized role of money in politics, and how that experience sharpened his work fighting gerrymandering and researching voter impact through the Princeton Election Consortium, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, and the Electoral Innovation Lab.

Resources:

• Electoral Innovation Lab: https://www.electoral-lab.org/
• Sam Wang: [email protected]
• Princeton Election Consortium

• Princeton Gerrymandering Project

Rob and Eveline sit down with Ankit Jain, DC's Shadow Senator, to dig into why the nation's capital remains one of the only democracies in the world where residents pay federal taxes but have no voting representation in Congress. Ankit walks them through the decades-long fight for statehood, the constitutional hurdles, and what's actually at stake for the 700,000 people living in the District. It's a conversation about democracy's biggest blind spot, happening right in its own backyard.

Democracy isn't just an outcome; it's a process and a practice built on the local infrastructure of our everyday communities. This week, Eveline talks with the National Civic League's Rebecca Trout about what it takes to cultivate a healthy, participative democratic ecosystem. From fostering grassroots dialogue through Civic Genius to connecting change-makers via the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Map, discover how NCL is helping citizens rebuild civic trust from the ground up.

In this episode, Eveline sits down with Colin Cole and Heather Villanueva from More Equitable Democracy to break down their individual and organizational theories of change and why their focus on proportional representation is critical. They also discuss MED's Electoral Justice Initiative, aimed at advancing proportional representation in jurisdictions across the country that has a proven track record in many cities already.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.

Eveline sits down with Kevin Johnson, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Election Reformers Network (ERN), to discuss the past, present, and future problem of partisan election officials in America. They dive into the reasons why the U.S. is the only modern democracy with this set-up, and what that means for how groups like the ERN advocate for change.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.

Constitutional amendments are not just theoretical.

In this episode, Expand Democracy President and Founder Rob Richie sits down with Jeff Clements, CEO of American Promise, to discuss the movement underway to reject Citizens United. Learn how 25 states, most recently Idaho, have passed legislation in support of a constitutional amendment, and how more are on the way.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.

The Electoral College isn't going anywhere, but there's a way to work around it without a constitutional amendment.

Rob sits down with Chris Pearson, Executive Director of National Popular Vote, to talk about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, what it would take to get it over the finish line, and what two decades of state-level reform advocacy actually looks like from the inside.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.

Young leaders are taking the democracy space by storm.

In this episode, our own Gen Z fellow Nivea Krishnan sits down with Alex Edgar (Made By Us), LaJuan Allen (Vote16USA) and Jahnavi Rao (New Voters) to discuss the world of youth civic engagement. Their conversation unpacks effective organizing strategies, identifies trends in youth participation, and underscores the way we must collaborate inter-generationally to expand democracy.

Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack.