Perfecting Democracy—Why it Matters” explores the history of civic engagement in the United States. In this episode, we bring together award-winning broadcast journalist Ron Bryant, and Akron based journalist and author of Barnstorming Ohio: To Understand America, David Giffels. Together they discuss how Ohio’s unique past and regional identities have shaped electoral engagement across the state.

Perfecting Democracy explores the topic of civic and electoral participation using history and jurisprudence to illuminate contemporary issues. This series offers a humanities perspective on electoral engagement in Ohio and America’s multivocal democracy. In each episode, experts from around the state share thought-provoking insights on how best to understand our democracy and why it matters. This program was funded by the 'Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation' initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.