Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Texas Deadly Floods: Who Is To Blame for the Devastation?

Texas Deadly Floods: Who Is To Blame for the Devastation?

I Fought To Keep VOA Independent. Now It’s Gone.

I Fought To Keep VOA Independent. Now It’s Gone.

Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrants

Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrants

From Red vs. Blue to Common Sense: Solving Money in Politics Together

From Red vs. Blue to Common Sense: Solving Money in Politics Together

The American Flag's Meaning: Hope and Heartache

The American Flag's Meaning: Hope and Heartache

Democracy Madness regional final: Voting Rights Act vs. ranked-choice voting

Democracy and basketball
danielfela/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumApr 15, 2020
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

The championship round in the Democracy Madness bracket's Voting region has arrived. And the top-seeded contenders have emerged at the front of the pack. But which one will be victorious?

Ranked-choice voting blew voting at home out of the water, even with all the talk about changing how ballots are cast in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. RCV has consistently destroyed its opponents throughout the tournament, winning by at least 30 points in every round.

Writing a new Voting Rights Act, which came in as the No. 1 seed, had its first real challenge of the tournament, going head-to-head with nationwide automatic voter registration. Beating AVR by just 11 points, the New VRA looks to have another difficult battle taking on RCV, which has cruised into the finals.

It's time to cast your ballot and decide. Which will be the 2020 Democracy Madness voting "region" champ? Balloting is open through Thursday and the winner will be revealed Friday. Click "Vote Now!" and make your choice.


delete

Latest news

Similarity Hub Shows >700 Instances of Cross-Partisan Common Ground
Bridging & Common Ground

Similarity Hub Shows >700 Instances of Cross-Partisan Common Ground

U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts
Governance & Legislation

U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts

Does My Vote Still Matter?

Does My Vote Still Matter?

Read More

Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

The B-2 "Spirit" Stealth Bomber flys over the 136th Rose Parade Presented By Honda on Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, California. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

After a short and successful war with Iraq, President George H.W. Bush claimed in 1991 that “the ghosts of Vietnam have been laid to rest beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.” Bush was referring to what was commonly called the “Vietnam syndrome.” The idea was that the Vietnam War had so scarred the American psyche that we forever lost confidence in American power.

The elder President Bush was partially right. The first Iraq war was certainly popular. And his successor, President Clinton, used American power — in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere — with the general approval of the media and the public.

Keep ReadingShow less
Conspiratorial Thinking Isn’t Growing–Its Consequences Are
a close up of a typewriter with the word conspiracy on it
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Conspiratorial Thinking Isn’t Growing–Its Consequences Are

The Comet Ping Pong Pizzagate shooting, the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and a man’s livestreamed beheading of his father last year were all fueled by conspiracy theories. But while the headlines suggest that conspiratorial thinking is on the rise, this is not the case. Research points to no increase in conspiratorial thinking. Still, to a more dangerous reality: the conspiracies taking hold and being amplified by political ideologues are increasingly correlated with violence against particular groups. Fortunately, promising new research points to actions we can take to reduce conspiratorial thinking in communities across the US.

Some journalists claim that this is “a golden age of conspiracy theories,” and the public agrees. As of 2022, 59% of Americans think that people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories today than 25 years ago, and 73% of Americans think conspiracy theories are “out of control.” Most blame this perceived increase on the role of social media and the internet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Why a College Degree No Longer Guarantees a Good Job
woman wearing academic cap and dress selective focus photography
Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

Why a College Degree No Longer Guarantees a Good Job

A college education used to be considered, along with homeownership, one of the key pillars of the American Dream. Is that still the case? Recent experiences of college graduates seeking employment raise questions about whether a university diploma remains the best pathway to pursuing happiness, as it once was.

Consider the case of recent grad Lohanny Santo, whose TikTok video went viral with over 3.6 million “likes” as she broke down in tears and vented her frustration over her inability to find even a minimum wage job. That was despite her dual degrees from Pace University and her ability to speak three languages. John York, a 24-year-old with a master’s degree in math from New York University, writes that “it feels like I am screaming into the void with each application I am filling out.”

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025