Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Democracy Madness: Follow the money

Democracy Madness: Follow the money
enjoynz/Getty Images

So far, ranked-choice voting and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact have earned spots in the Democracy Madness Final Four, our competition to find the single most important change championed by democracy reformers. Now we turn to ideas for changing the role of money in politics.

The voters surprised us in the Elections region, repeatedly going for underdogs. But we expect to see the higher-seeded reforms perform better this time around as the top-ranked proposals, repealing the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and removing the "dark" from dark money, are major elements of the democracy reform agenda.


This bracket of 16 is sprinkled with ideas around public financing of campaigns, restrictions on lobbyists, and new disclosure requirements for both fundraising and campaign spending. While many of these proposals can appear somewhat technical or arcane, one in particular may resonate with voters: the demand for presidential candidates to release their tax returns. This has become a major issue now that President Trump is taking his refusal to show his 1040s all the way to the Supreme Court.

First-round voting continues through Tuesday, with succeeding rounds taking place over the next week and a half. Two weeks from today, we'll kick off the "best of the rest" bracket, to be followed by the Final Four.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

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


Read More

Project 2025: Trump Admin Tries to Curb the FTC's Corporate Oversight

The Federal Trade Commission building.

Getty Images, Greggory DiSalvo

Project 2025: Trump Admin Tries to Curb the FTC's Corporate Oversight

In the first few weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump signed a series of controversial executive orders that are designed to exert tight control over 19 federal agencies that were established decades ago by Congress to act independently of the president. Since then, the Trump administration has attempted to methodically remove the independence of the Federal Election Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other agencies.

The latest regulatory agency in the presidential crosshairs is one of the most important: the corporate watchdog Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Just recently, the White House mounted a takeover of the FTC by firing the only two Democratic commissioners on the five-person commission and politicizing its bipartisan regulatory oversight.

Keep ReadingShow less
Future of the National Museum of the American Latino is Uncertain

PRESENTE! A Latino History of the United States

Credit: National Museum of the American Latino

Future of the National Museum of the American Latino is Uncertain

The American Museum of the Latino faces more hurdles after over two decades of advocacy.

Congress passed legislation to allow for the creation of the Museum, along with the American Women’s History Museum, as part of the Smithsonian Institution in an online format. Five years later, new legislation introduced by Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) wants to build a physical museum for both the Latino and women’s museums but might face pushback due to a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

Keep ReadingShow less
Where Can We Find Hope in America Today?

People putting their hands in together.

Getty Images, filadendron

Where Can We Find Hope in America Today?

If we were deeply divided during the last presidential election, I find we’re all in the same boat now. As I travel the country, people tell me they’re disoriented by the uncertainty, chaos, and confusion in society. I hear this from Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and others alike.

What’s clear is that we have lost a basic sense of decency in our interactions. Empathy and compassion are missing from one another. Yet, there remains a hunger among people for belonging and connection—for community.

Keep ReadingShow less
Competitive Authoritarianism Comes for Civil Society

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 3, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Andrew Harnik

Competitive Authoritarianism Comes for Civil Society

I make a point of letting readers know when I change my mind about matters that bear on the ongoing discussion here at The Art of Association. I need to introduce today’s newsletter about what the second Trump Administration entails for civil society with just such an update.

My views on Donald Trump have remained more or less stable for a decade. As I wrote in the aftermath of Trump’s re-election and before his second inauguration,

Keep ReadingShow less