Introducing ‘The Democracy Solutions Project’
Ahead of the 2024 election, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times are launching a new series examining how we can strengthen American democracy.

A partnership between the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government and Chicago Public Media, this multi-part, multimedia series will take a solutions-oriented approach to reporting on the critical issues facing American democracy today. Through stories, listening experiences, opinion pieces and news from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, we’ll examine the current threats to our democracy, including barriers to voting, cynicism, misinformation, polarization and much more.
Ahead of the 2024 election, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times are launching a new series examining how we can strengthen American democracy.
As part of our Democracy Solutions Project, we want to know what you think are the biggest challenges facing our political system – and how to solve them.
A series of key decisions lay ahead before Chicago voters begin the transition to an elected school board in November 2024.
So-called participatory budgeting, in which residents vote on spending projects in their wards, started in the U.S. in Chicago, but its growth has stalled.
It started in the U.S. in Chicago as a way to connect residents to government and how tax dollars are spent.
A new initiative, The Democracy Solutions Project, digs into big themes and questions surrounding democracy in the United States.
The Supreme Court is in the news a lot – for decisions made inside the court and out. How did it get so much power and who’s pushing back?
A year after Roe v. Wade fell, Illinois Democrat and GOP lawmakers fight for legislation.
Even in states that allow abortion if the life of the mother is in danger, doctors say fear of prosecution is leading many to send high-risk patients to Illinois.
In Illinois, about 8 percent of the population doesn’t speak English very well. And that means, for many immigrant communities in the state and region, language is a barrier to accessing and …
A WBEZ analysis shows that while people may be more cynical and government is more expensive, voter interest in state elections has only increased.
As part of a shift in civics education, CPS is moving beyond facts and dates and toward helping students experience what it is like to create change.
CPS discourages civics tests based on rote memorization. Try a quiz using that approach — and see what schools are doing now instead.
Take our 15-point quiz on the Illinois and U.S. constitutions, based on real questions students face.
As part of our Democracy Solutions Project, we want to know what you think are the biggest challenges facing our political system – and how to solve them.
Jyran Mitchell was injured when he was wrongfully detained by an Illinois state trooper with ties to extremism. The officer was one of a dozen outside Chicago whose names appeared on an Oath Keepers …
The anti-government group is best known for plotting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but its notoriety extends years earlier.
The term has become conflated with policies that provide public benefits and resources, according to DePaul University’s Kathleen Arnold.
Juan González is a senior fellow at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago. He says U.S. foreign policy is key to understanding why migrants flee to the city.
Though the state has anti-censorship protections, residents should remain vigilant and vocal about their support for keeping library books on shelves.