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Trump Never Intended To Be Just

Trump Never Intended To Be Just

After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable

The White House's Lawn.

Trump’s UFC Birthday Bash Dwarfs Flag Day’s Meaning and History

Congressional Record: Capitol Hill’s Bipartisan Concert Starring Musical Congress Members

Congressional Record: Capitol Hill’s Bipartisan Concert Starring Musical Congress Members

Top seeds squaring off for the 'best of the rest' in Democracy Madness

basketball and democracy
by designing makes me more alive/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 27, 2020
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Three of the four quarters of Democracy Madness have wrapped up. Now, it's time to crown the champion of the "Best of the Rest" division and move into the Final Four of our reader-driven tournament to come up with the fan favorite proposal for fixing the broken democracy.

The top seeds in this part of the bracket — always using paper ballots in elections (No. 1) and using federal funding to power elections (No. 2) — will square off today and Thursday in the final round of this "regional" competition. Both proposals have breezed past their opponents thus far, though the second seed has had higher win margins during its run.

Can federal election funding upset paper ballots? Or will the lead seed bring home the victory? You decide by clicking "Vote Now" and tracking your pick.

Starting Monday, the champions of each divisional bracket will go head-to-head to decide which reform you think is the top choice.



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Judicial Independence Over Judicial Sycophancy
Rule of Law

Judicial Independence Over Judicial Sycophancy

Cocaine and Corruption: As U.S. Military Operations Continue, Ecuadorians Say Drug Crime Needs Holistic Response
Community

Cocaine and Corruption: As U.S. Military Operations Continue, Ecuadorians Say Drug Crime Needs Holistic Response

Trump is stuck between two realities. Neither serves the American people
Governance & Legislation

Trump is stuck between two realities. Neither serves the American people

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This Year Colleges Raced to Embrace Viewpoint Diversity. That’s a Mistake

students sitting in class

Photo by Dom Fou on Unsplash

This Year Colleges Raced to Embrace Viewpoint Diversity. That’s a Mistake

We have just completed another tough year for America’s most prestigious colleges and universities. Problems are legion; solutions are hard to find.

By their own telling, the richest places are confronting a gloomy economic future. They are cutting staff, freezing hiring, and limiting faculty salary increases. They are also beginning to face the ugly reality of runaway grade inflation and student disengagement from the academic work that is supposedly the lifeblood of their institutions.

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​U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo

U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), flanked by U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill after their weekly party conference meeting on June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC

U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo / Getty Images

Curbelo Warns Gerrymandering Is Eroding Democracy From Within

Last week’s Unity Forum conversation featured former U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo giving a cross-partisan assessment of two issues at the heart of America’s polarized politics: gerrymandering and immigration. His message was a refreshing change from common partisan banter. It was grounded in constitutional principle and the pragmatic belief that democracies survive only when citizens feel represented and when political incentives reward problem‑solving rather than extremism.

Curbelo, a Republican who represented a swing district in South Florida from 2015 to 2019, has long been known as a bipartisan voice on issues ranging from energy to immigration. He co‑founded the House Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group working to develop practical, economically viable solutions to climate-related issues.

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An illustration with the words, "AI," in the middle - Icons on a computer, robot, lock, and a car are around

AI is unpopular yet widely used. Explore how citizen-led “crackpot schemes” could shape AI policy, protect jobs, strengthen democracy, and maximize AI’s benefits while reducing its risks.

Andriy Onufriyenko / Getty Images

In Defense of “Crackpot Schemes” for AI Governance

AI is unpopular. And nearly a billion people use ChatGPT.

AI is destroying jobs. And fields predicted to have been eliminated by AI, like radiology, continue to grow and leverage the technology to improve their work.

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Welcome to Trump’s lame duck presidency

President Donald Trump speaks to the press in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2026.

(Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images/TCA)

Welcome to Trump’s lame duck presidency

It's been a while since we saw a lame duck presidency — long enough in politics to maybe forget what one looks like.

In October 2014, President Barack Obama hit his lowest approval rating yet at 40%. The midterm elections were an absolute bloodbath for Democrats — Republicans expanded their majority in the House by 13 seats and took control of the Senate with a gain of nine seats.

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