Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Democracy Madness: Elite Eight set in the Elections bracket

American flag and basketball
vasosh/Getty Images

The first round of the Elections "regional" bracket is in the books, and there were quite a few upsets.

While our top three seeds in this quarter of our Democracy Madness draw made it through unscathed, there were four early upsets among the matchups of 16 proposals for restructuring and reforming election rules.

Our 13th-ranked idea, limiting the tenure of Supreme Court justices, took out the idea of expanding the fall presidential debates to more candidates, which we seeded No. 4. Now court term limits will have the chance to take down the No. 5 seed — having all-candidate primaries where the top two advance to November, regardless of party. If it prevails, it will be the lowest seed to make it to a regional Final Four.


Three other proposals bested higher-seeded ideas in the Elections first round: Having multi-member U.S. House districts, setting congressional term limits and minimizing the Electoral College's importance by switching to the so-called National Popular Vote Compact.

Second-round voting is open until Sunday. So don't forget to press the Vote Now button and make all four choices. You can also click the matchups, then each label, for more about the surviving proposals.

This competition is designed to learn what readers think is the single best of 64 ideas for reforming our governing systems and putting voters back at the center of things. (A reminder that No. 2 ranked-choice voting triumphed last week in our Voting region, which squared off first.)

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter



Read More

Finding Joy in Our Differences: Not As Crazy as It Sounds

Lance and Rodney team up to navigate the rapids of the Nantahala River in western North Carolina

Finding Joy in Our Differences: Not As Crazy as It Sounds

It's no secret that most of us in America find ourselves in a wildly different place these days.

It's a place that some of us might say we barely recognize. I wish I could describe it as being a happier place, but instead, it's a place that seems to have more anxiety, fear, anger, intolerance, and even hatred. It's a place where dialogue is often avoided for fear of igniting a firestorm of controversy. And it's a place where many of us would say that joyfulness is becoming harder and harder to find. It's not surprising, then, that we find ourselves immersed in this unprecedented "epidemic of loneliness."

Keep ReadingShow less
Winning the Global AI Race: Senators Discuss Ensuring US Dominance

U.S. Capitol Building, Thursday, May 8, 2025

Credit: Erin Drumm

Winning the Global AI Race: Senators Discuss Ensuring US Dominance

WASHINGTON—On Thursday, senators from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation discussed the need to accelerate U.S. artificial intelligence innovation to maintain global leadership in AI development.

“The United States leads today, but what I would like to say is, it is a race. Leadership is absolutely not guaranteed.” Dr. Lisa Su, CEO and Chair of Advanced Micro Devices, said.

Keep ReadingShow less