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The Panama Canal has value to American business—but it has more value to China

The Panama Canal has value to American business—but it has more value to China

Project 2025: Part II

Project 2025: Part II

Congress Bill Spotlight: renaming Gulf of Mexico as “Gulf of America”

Congress Bill Spotlight: renaming Gulf of Mexico as “Gulf of America”

A fictional, fanciful sign depicts the results of voter suppression through the unfair, partisan manipulation of district lines (gerrymandering).

The worst congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s

Redistricting

Redistricting

Video: Virtue, progress, and American institutions today

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America's Public Forum: Virtue, Progress, and American Institutions Today
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The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumFeb 18, 2022
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Steven Pinker has argued in books such as The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now that we are living in a peak era of human progress, one that modern society must cease to take for granted. But in A Time to Build, Yuval Levin argues that the integrity of our modern institutions is in free fall, opening up the possibility of the fast unraveling of our democratic and cultural life. Can these things be true at the same time? And if so, how can we preserve our institutions so that we do not lose the progress of modern civilization?

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Just words, or did Trump mean it: "He who saves his country violates no Law."
Ethics & Leadership

Just words, or did Trump mean it: "He who saves his country violates no Law."

A Right to Exist in Mutual Dignity
Bridging & Common Ground

A Right to Exist in Mutual Dignity

money in politics
Money & Politics

Just the Facts: The Deficit

Special Session Watch: Florida Reaches Compromise Over Immigration Law
Governance & Legislation

Special Session Watch: Florida Reaches Compromise Over Immigration Law

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When Power Protects Predators: How U.S. Rape Culture Silences Survivors

Individuals protesting.

Gabrielle Chalk

When Power Protects Predators: How U.S. Rape Culture Silences Survivors

On November 5, 2024—the night of the most anticipated election cycle for residents of the United States—thousands gathered around the country, sitting with friends in front of large-screen TVs, optimistic and ready to witness the election of the next president of the United States.

As the hours of election night stretched on and digital state maps turned red or blue with each counted ballot, every 68 seconds a woman was sexually assaulted in the U.S., an estimate calculated by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

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The Bureaucrat’s Dilemma When Dealing with a Charismatic Autocrat

A single pawn separated from a group of pawns.

Canva Images

The Bureaucrat’s Dilemma When Dealing with a Charismatic Autocrat

Excerpt from To Stop a Tyrant by Ira Chaleff

In my book To Stop a Tyrant, I identify five types of a political leader’s followers. Given the importance of access in politics, I range these from the more distant to the closest. In the middle are bureaucrats. No political leader can accomplish anything without a cadre of bureaucrats to implement their vision and policies. Custom, culture and law establish boundaries for a bureaucrat’s freedom of action. At times, these constraints must be balanced with moral considerations. The following excerpt discusses ways in which bureaucrats need to thread this needle.

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Trump’s Project 2025 agenda caps decades-long resistance to 20th century progressive reform

There has long been a tug-of-war over White House plans to make government more liberal or more conservative.

Getty Images, zimmytws

Trump’s Project 2025 agenda caps decades-long resistance to 20th century progressive reform

Project 2025 is a conservative guideline for reforming government and policymaking during the second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross-partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased, critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025. To that end, we also amplify the work of others in doing the same.

For much of the 20th century, efforts to remake government were driven by a progressive desire to make the government work for regular Americans, including the New Deal and the Great Society reforms.

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Religious elite can follow their source of moral guidance

An open book at a community gathering.

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Religious elite can follow their source of moral guidance

In some societies, there is no distinction between religious elites and political elites. In others, there is a strong wall between them. Either way, they tend to have direct access to huge swaths of the populace and influence with them. This is an irresistible target for the proto-tyrant to court or nullify.

In many cases, the shrewd proto-tyrant will pose as befriending the major religious sect or, at least, dissemble that they mean it no harm. It is extremely enticing for the leaders of these sects to give the proto-tyrant public support or, at least, studiously refrain from criticizing their regime. There is apparently much to be gained or, at least, much less to lose in terms of their temporal power and ability to continue serving their faithful.

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