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Democracy 21

Democracy 21 and the Democracy 21 Education Fund work to strengthen the integrity and fairness of our democracy and to increase the role of citizens in our political process. The organization brings unique policy and litigation experience and expertise to campaign finance and democracy issues, and to related government integrity, transparency and accountability issues. Since we began in 1997, the organization has played a leading national role in the efforts to address the nation's campaign finance problems through public education, litigation, and other efforts. D21 President Fred Wertheimer has played a key role in every major campaign finance reform and ethics battle in Congress since the post-Watergate reforms in the 1970s and has participated as a lawyer in every major Supreme Court campaign finance case during this period. Democracy 21 manages a coalition of reform groups that meet regularly to develop approaches and strategies for promoting democracy reforms.


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We're Failing Gen Alpha
a computer chip with the letter a on top of it
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

We're Failing Gen Alpha

Just about around 2035, we’ll be celebrating the first Gen Alpha graduates from college. Hallmark is going to need to work on some new cards before then.

A few recommendations:

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After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

Article V Convention is a mechanism in the U.S. Constitution that empowers state legislatures to bypass Congress and propose amendments to the Constitution.

After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Louisiana v. Callais. Louisiana had been ordered by a federal court to draw a majority-Black congressional district. It drew one. The Court held the drawing unconstitutional and rewrote the Section 2 standard, raising the evidentiary burden for successful challenges and immunizing maps that satisfy a state’s stated partisan goals. As Justice Kagan wrote in dissent, the trap closes perfectly. States cannot draw majority-minority districts, and the mechanism that would require them to cannot be satisfied under the new standard.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013) removed Section 5 preclearance — the preventive mechanism. Callais has removed Section 2 enforcement — the remedial mechanism. Both statutory pathways to voting rights protection are now closed.

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Kalshi Wants to Help Americans Hedge Risk. Lawmakers Say It’s Just Gambling with a Different Name

Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif, speaks at the Brookings Institution panel to make the case for regulating prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket

(Erika Tulfo, Medill News Service)

Kalshi Wants to Help Americans Hedge Risk. Lawmakers Say It’s Just Gambling with a Different Name

WASHINGTON – Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are facing mounting pressure in Congress as lawmakers debate whether the platforms should be treated as financial exchanges or gambling operations.

The platforms allow users to bet on real-world events from sports to politics, which are classified as a type of financial derivative overseen by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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