Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stands in front of a group of National Guard troops.

Trump's and Hegseth’s Officer Firings Put Pentagon Stability at Risk

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him

​Passengers are evacuated by small boat.

The Story Behind the Hantavirus Outbreak and Why It Matters

Person at home feeling tired and stressed.

The Problem isn’t Masculinity – It’s the Men Modeling It

Democracy Madness: Follow the money to the second round

basketball and democracy
enjoynz/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 07, 2020
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

The first-round results from the Money in Politics region of our Democracy Madness tournament looked like a typical March Madness bracket: The top seeds advanced, with a couple of low-level upsets spicing things up.

So now it's on to the Elite Eight, with our readers urged to take another shot at picking their favorite ideas for fixing the campaign finance system. (Our tournament of 64 democracy reform proposals has already seen ranked-choice voting and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact advance to the Final Four.)

The top six Money in Politics proposals all took care of business, but the seventh- and eighth-ranked entries both fell in minor upsets. In the matchup pitting limitations on foreign campaign contributions (No. 7) against limitations on lobbyists' campaign donations (No. 10), the curb on lobbyists came out on top. And in the battle of public financing options — subsidies for candidates (No. 8) versus vouchers for voters to donate (No. 9) — the underdog triumphed again.

But now they face the big dogs. Campaign vouchers are up against the top seed, the effort to effectively repeal the Citizens United decision by constitutional amendment, while the cap on lobbyists' donations battles the campaign to reveal "dark money."

The second round runs through Saturday, with the regional semi-finals and finals following next week.

Click the Vote Now button to make your selections. (You can click the matchups, then each label, for more about the proposals.)




Latest news

Pregnant woman holding her belly during a prenatal exam.
Health

The Trump Administration Has a Mommy Problem

Religious leaders hold a press conference at the Episcopal Church Center.
Bridging & Common Ground

Not Forgotten: The Need To Continue The Work of Black-Jewish Legacy

How the Powell Memo Sparked a 50‑Year Shift Toward Today’s “Second Gilded Age” and Project 2025

How the Powell Memo Sparked a 50‑Year Shift Toward Today’s “Second Gilded Age” and Project 2025

America's Political War Is Costing Trillions: An American Union Could Fix It
Money & Politics

America's Political War Is Costing Trillions: An American Union Could Fix It

Read More

Despite Court Order, NYPD Failed to Properly Monitor Stop-and-Frisks by Aggressive Unit

Members of the New York City Police Department’s Community Response Team conduct a raid on a smoke shop in lower Manhattan in 2024.

Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Despite Court Order, NYPD Failed to Properly Monitor Stop-and-Frisks by Aggressive Unit

More than a decade ago, a federal court found that the New York City Police Department had been unconstitutionally stopping and frisking Black and Hispanic residents. The ruling laid out required fixes, including something quite basic: The NYPD would review officers’ stops to make sure they were legal.

But for most of the past three years the nation’s largest police department failed to do that for a key part of an aggressive and politically connected unit as it stopped New Yorkers.

Keep ReadingShow less
America Is at an Impasse. What’s the Breakthrough?
As political violence threatens democracy, defending free speech, limiting government overreach, and embracing pluralism matters is critical right now.
Getty Images, Javier Zayas Photography

America Is at an Impasse. What’s the Breakthrough?

Our country and our politics are at an impasse. Just consider our past four presidents: Obama, Trump, Biden, and back to Trump. The country keeps swinging from one end of the political spectrum to the other with no clear, sustained direction.

Which begs the question: what’s the breakthrough we need to get us out of this impasse and moving in a more hopeful way—together?

Keep ReadingShow less
Tourists gather at Mather Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, enjoying panoramic views of the iconic natural wonder

National Park Service budget cuts are reshaping America’s public lands through underfunding and neglect. Explore how declining park staffing, deferred maintenance, and political inaction threaten national parks, local economies, and public trust in government.

Getty Images, miroslav_1

They Won’t Close the Parks. They’ll Just Let Them Fail.

This summer, before dawn, the Liu family from Buffalo will load up their SUV, coffee in hand, bound for a long-planned trip out west. The Grand Canyon has been on their list for years, something to do before the kids get too old and schedules get too tight. They expect crowds. They expect long lines at the entrance. That is part of the deal. In recent years, national parks have drawn more than 325 million visits annually, near record highs.

What they do not expect are shuttered visitor centers and closed trails, not because of weather but because there are not enough staff to maintain them. What they do not see is the budget decision in Washington that made those trade-offs, quietly, indirectly, and without much debate.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026