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Democracy Madness: Top-seeded 'best of the rest' dominate the last Elite Eight

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The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 21, 2020
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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The top seven seeds have all made it through to the Elite Eight round in the "Best of the Rest" division of Democracy Madness — our tournament where readers are deciding which of 64 ideas for fixing the government they want most.

The only minor upset in the opening round of our final quarter: The notion of conducting more extensive audits of election results, our ninth seed, barely snuck past the idea of creating federal standards for all voting machines, slotted eighth.

Now it's time to whittle it down to four. The voting lasts until Sunday night.

Will using nothing but paper ballots (No. 1) get by those post-election audits? Will providing a steady flow of federal funding for elections (No. 2) best a demand for Congress to spend more time in Washington (No. 7)? Does Congress need more capacity (No. 3) or should kids spend more time learning about civics (No. 6)? Want the District of Columbia to be the 51st state (No. 4) or a code of ethics for the Supreme Court (No. 5)?

These are the questions that await you in this round of the bracket. Which one will join the other three bracket champions who readers have already sent to the Democracy Madness Final Four?

Click "Vote Now" to make your four choices. (You can click the matchups, then each label, for more on the proposals.)



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While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terrorizes Black and brown communities with racial profiling, kidnappings, inhumane treatment, fatal abuse, and killings, private prison investors are asking how ICE can detain more people to increase their profits. Private prison corporations have long profited from immigration enforcement, but they are expecting a financial windfall under the current administration. These corporations are politically and financially situated to rapidly increase detention capacity and cash in on the president’s goal of deporting one million people per year. Stopping these corporations from lining politicians’ campaign coffers is a necessary first step in ensuring that our government is accountable to the people it serves, rather than the corporations it contracts with.

ICE and private prison corporations have long had a symbiotic relationship. Ninety percent of ICE's detainees were already being held in facilities owned or operated by private prison corporations before President Trump began his second term. CoreCivic and GEO Group, two of the largest private prison corporations that lead the multi-billion dollar industry, have been contracting with immigration enforcement for decades. By 2023, ICE contracts accounted for 43 percent of CoreCivic’s revenue and 30 percent of GEO Group’s revenue. The majority of each corporation’s lobbyists have held government positions, and GEO Group’s board of directors “has extensive links with ICE.” The relationship between private prisons and ICE is the embodiment of the “'revolving door’ between the federal government and the private sector.”

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On June 4, 1876, on the eve of our Nation’s centennial, the Transcontinental Express completed its inaugural voyage across America’s newly constructed coast-to-coast railroad, traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific in just 83 hours. This milestone marked the end of the Railroad Race and the beginning of the Gilded Age, epitomized by its rail barons and drastic wealth disparity.

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