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The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Will Fuel the “Disuniting” of the United States and the Unraveling of American Democracy

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

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

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

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

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

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

Podcast: Rural broadband and the politics of "good enough"

Podcast: Rural broadband and the politics of "good enough"
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumSep 21, 2022
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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COVID-19 showed just how essential high-speed Internet is to our everyday lives. It determines how many of us work, learn, and access news and entertainment. Yet, millions of Americans do not have reliable access to broadband and millions more can't afford to pay for the service that's available to them.

Christopher Ali, the Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State, unpacks these issues in his book Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity and joins the Democracy Works podcast for a discussion about market failures, how communities across the country are democratizing Internet access and how the federal government is now starting to step in thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November 2021.We also discuss some of Ali's more recent work on the relationship between broadband deserts and news deserts, and how the combination impacts democratic citizenship.

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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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A woman with an empty wallet spent on shopping. Bankrupted woman sitting with her shopping bags

President Donald Trump says Americans’ financial struggles matter “not even a little bit” as inflation rises, gas prices surge, and a controversial $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded compensation plan for political allies emerges.

Getty Images, Twenty47studio

Trump Says Americans’ Pain ‘Doesn’t Matter’ as $1.7B Aids His Allies

Perhaps the most effective ad in the 2024 campaign was “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” Since that ad ran, the American people have learned that it is anything but true.

With gas prices having surged 28% in two months, inflation climbing to a three-year high of 3.8%, and the average family is spending an estimated $5,000 more this year than last due to rising costs across the board, a reporter asked Trump a simple question: To what extent are Americans’ financial situations motivating him to reach a deal to end the war in Iran?

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The dome of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., stands tall against a blue sky with the American flag waving proudly

Congress faces growing pressure to pass redistricting reform as lawmakers debate banning gerrymandering, independent commissions, and mid-decade map changes amid renewed national controversy over fair elections.

Getty Images, aire images

Congress's Missed Opportunities on Redistricting Reform

On April 29, Issue One posted an image on Facebook and Instagram: CONGRESS CAN FIX THIS WITH THREE SIMPLE STEPS:

  1. Establish Clear National Criteria for Fair Maps
  2. Require Independent Redistricting Commissions in Every State
  3. Ban Mid-Decade Redistricting.

Issue One added below: “… but it needs 60 Senate votes to do it.”

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