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Webinar rewind: Preparing for potential election crises

A pandemic. Battles over millions of mailed-in ballots. The Supreme Court deciding an Electoral College dispute. The accelerated undoing of democratic norms. Dozens of legal battles over election administration and voting rights. Each would be enough to create unprecedented challenges to an election. But all are present this year, positioning Election Day 2020 and the days after to face challenges rarely as intense before. As Nov. 3 approaches, voters, government officials, candidates and the media may become overwhelmed by the many storylines, the shifting landscape and the potential outcomes. Preparation needs to start now.

The Fulcrum convened an expert panel to discuss these issues and more on June 9. Editor-in-Chief David Hawkings moderated the webinar, which also included:


  • Bryan Monroe, associate professor of practice at Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication. Before joining Temple, Bryan was editor of CNNPolitics and Washington opinion editor for CNN; president of the National Association of Black Journalists; and editor-in-chief of Ebony & Jet magazines.
  • Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center. Trevor is a past chairman of the Federal Election Commission and was general counsel to John McCain's 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns.

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California Voters Don’t Like Either Party. Good Thing the Primary Doesn’t Belong to The Parties.

California voters increasingly distrust both major parties. Here's why the state's Top Two primary gives independent voters more power to shape elections.

Image: Duncan Shelby on Alamy.

California Voters Don’t Like Either Party. Good Thing the Primary Doesn’t Belong to The Parties.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - California voters have already received ballots for the June 2 primary, and the message they have going into these elections may not be what the political class wants to hear: They are not thrilled with either major party.

A recent analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found that majorities of likely voters have unfavorable views of both parties—61% unfavorable toward the Democratic Party and 70% unfavorable toward the Republican Party.

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Demonstrators hold signs during a January 6th memorial march in Washington, DC.

Demonstrators hold signs during a January 6th memorial march marking five years since the attack on January 06, 2026 in Washington, DC

Win McNamee / Getty Images

America at 250: A Nation Drifting from Its Ideals—As Unchecked Power Corrupts

As the nation approaches its 250th Anniversary, Americans should be entering a moment of pride, reckoning, and aspiration — honoring our founding ideals, confronting our injustices, and committing to a shared, inclusive future. But millions cannot reach that place. They are living in a country where the most basic democratic promise — that no one, not even the president, is above the law — is no longer true. And they are asking a question no democracy should ever force its people to ask: How do you confront injustice when leaders erase the history, hide the evidence, excuse the wrongdoing, and protect the perpetrators?

People are watching January 6 perpetrators not only be pardoned, but now discussed as victims deserving compensation — while others who committed far lesser offenses remain in prison. They are watching families who lost loved ones, officers who were attacked, and judges who were threatened receive no acknowledgment, while those who carried out the violence are elevated. They are watching Epstein victims still seeking closure while Maxwell lives comfortably. And they are watching Congress and the courts fail to check a president who intimidates, retaliates, enriches himself, and bends institutions to serve him.

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Businessman on ladder arranging large, multicolored speech bubbles on blue background

Pluralism has a messaging problem. Explore how body metaphors shape politics, exclusion, diversity, and democratic governance across difference.


Malte Mueller / Getty Images

We Need a New Metaphor of Us

Pluralism has a messaging problem. Part of the reason why is that there is no common emotionally intuitive metaphor for the collaborative co-creation of governance across differences that is a pluralistic democracy.

This matters because humans do not think politically through abstract principles alone — we think through metaphor.

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The Fragile Coalitions Beneath American Politics
white concrete building during daytime

The Fragile Coalitions Beneath American Politics

Part 1 of “Today’s Governing Gap,” a three-part series on coalition fragility, governing coherence, and the institutional continuity democratic systems require.

American politics looks stable from a distance. Two dominant parties, fiercely competitive elections, a constitutional framework that has held since the Civil War.

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