Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Podcast: Is the Supreme Court's legitimacy at risk?

Podcast: Is the Supreme Court's legitimacy at risk?

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the Supreme Court and democratic legitimacy in front of a live audience at The Washington Center in Washington, D.C. How does public opinion influence the Supreme Court? What role does the Court play in the federal government? Is it the ultimate arbiter of controversial policy questions? And should it be reformed? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.


Is the Supreme Court's legitimacy at risk?

Is the Supreme Court's legitimacy at risk?

open.spotify.com


Read More

An aerial view of a taco bell and a taco bell sign.

In an aerial view, customers depart a Taco Bell restaurant on July 14, 2026 in Pasadena, California. Federal and state health officials have reportedly begun investigating whether lettuce served at some Taco Bell restaurants has led to the widespread outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness, which has sickened thousands around the country.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

Taco Bell Lettuce Outbreak Exposes Gaps in U.S. Food Surveillance

By this point, most Americans with a cutting board have heard the warning: wash the lettuce, or, even better, avoid it. Now, at least, there's a specific bag to point to.

A year before the worst Cyclospora outbreak in recent memory, the federal government quietly stopped requiring anyone to actively look for it. That is not a coincidence worth shrugging off — and finding the source this week doesn't change that. It confirms it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Reclassifying Faith?: Inside the Department of War’s Revision to Its List of Religions
man holding his hands on open book
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Reclassifying Faith?: Inside the Department of War’s Revision to Its List of Religions

This nonpartisan policy brief, written by an ACE fellow, is republished by The Fulcrum as part of our partnership with the Alliance for Civic Engagement and our NextGen initiative — elevating student voices, strengthening civic education, and helping readers better understand democracy and public policy.

How Are Religions Recognized in the U.S. Military?

Keep ReadingShow less
Anti-gerrymandering sign

Anti-gerrymandering sign

Bill Clark/Getty Images

Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for Politicians or Their Consultants to Fix Gerrymandering

2018, a nonprofit worker in Michigan named Katie Fahey posted a message online asking if anyone else was tired of politicians drawing their own districts. She had no campaign experience and no political base.

Within two years, the ballot initiative she built, called Voters Not Politicians, had written an independent redistricting commission into the Michigan constitution. Hollywood eventually made a documentary about it, Slay the Dragon, which is a fairly accurate description of what she had actually done.

Keep ReadingShow less
Protestors holding signs outside of the Idaho statehouse.

Protesters rally for abortion rights outside of the Idaho Statehouse in downtown Boise, Idaho, on May 14, 2022.

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/AP

Idaho Voters Will Weigh In on One of the Strictest Abortion Bans in the Country

Idaho voters will weigh in on their state’s abortion laws this November. The secretary of state’s office certified a ballot measure that could, if passed, overturn one of the strictest bans in the country, the campaign to restore abortion rights in Idaho confirmed on Monday.

The measure would enact a new law establishing a state right to “reproductive freedom,” which it defines as allowing residents to make their own decisions in areas including fertility treatment, contraception and abortion. But it would not amend the state’s constitution, meaning it could still be overturned by the state’s Republican legislature. Currently, Idaho bans abortion in nearly all circumstances, with a narrow exception if staying pregnant threatens someone’s life.

Keep ReadingShow less