Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
People walking down the steps of the U.S. capitol.

DNC's Proposed RCV Ban Sparks Debate Over 2028 Presidential Primaries

Close-up hands of unrecognizable man holding and using smartphone standing on city street, browsing internet, checking social media, using mobile application.

ALS Doesn't Wait. Our Health Care System Still Does.

Defense Secretary Hegseth Testifies Before Senate Appropriations Committee

Can We Fire Hegseth Yet?

A Senior Man Using A Laptop Computer And Paying Bills With Nurse

Not All Change Is Good: Medicaid, Medicare Shifts Are Everyone’s Problem

Six Undeclared Wars Reveal Fatal Costs and Failed Oversight

Six Undeclared Wars Reveal Fatal Costs and Failed Oversight

Podcast: How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?

Podcast: How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumJun 16, 2022
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

Declining response rates for polls mean we must rely on the shrinking minority of Americans that agree to be interviewed to represent the broader public.

"The Science of Politics" podcast guest Josh Clinton finds that Democrats were more likely to agree to be interviewed than Republicans or Independents in 2020. Common corrections could not compensate, as the partisans who do respond aren’t representative of those who don’t. Guest Amnon Cavari finds that the people who refuse to participate in polls are less educated and less interested in politics. This means our measures of polarization overestimate partisan differences by speaking only to the highly engaged.

Listen now


Latest news

FDA Sign at its headquarters in Washington DC. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the USA.
Health

FDA Turmoil: Political Interference Threatens Drug Safety Standards

Person writing math equations on a chalkboard.
Democracy

American Democracy Needs a Mathematical Revolution

The GOP isn’t always the best party for conservatives
Ethics & Leadership

The GOP isn’t always the best party for conservatives

People waiting in a line outside as the sun sets.
Electoral Reforms

Texas Confirms Some Flagged As Potential Noncitizens on Voter Rolls Had Provided DPS Proof of Citizenship

Read More

Gynecologist doing ultrasound of pregnant woman in hospital.

Rural hospital labor and delivery closures are creating maternity care deserts—and costing communities physicians, jobs, families, and economic investment.

Maskot/Getty Images

No Doctor, No Delivery, No Future

Today, less than half of rural hospitals in the U.S. still offer labor and delivery services, and since 2020, 139 of them have stopped delivering babies altogether. That's usually treated as public health statistic. It's also an economic one. Each closure doesn't just push expectant mothers into longer drives to the hospital, it pushes out physicians, jobs, young families, and the investment that follows them. So, what happens to a town after it loses its only labor and delivery unit?

The answer, it turns out, is a lot more than a longer drive to the hospital. More than a third of U.S. counties, 35.1 percent by the most recent national count, are now what researchers call maternity care deserts: places with no hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and no obstetric clinicians at all. Since the end of 2020, 139 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies, and today less than half of rural hospitals nationwide still offer labor and delivery services.

Keep ReadingShow less
A New Standard for Ethical Immigration Reporting
people holding flag of U.S.A miniature
Photo by Frank Kastle on Unsplash

A New Standard for Ethical Immigration Reporting

Seven months ago, I attended the first day of my Reporting on Race class at USC. Taught by journalist and immigration reporting expert Jean Guerrero, the course offered growth I hadn’t yet imagined, showing me how much I could evolve as a journalist in just one semester.

For the next five months, I researched and reported on an immigration story of my choosing. I wrote about how educators in Los Angeles protect and advocate for students and communities living in fear of ICE deportations. These educators organized community street patrols to keep their neighborhoods safe. Finding sources and producing the final draft took months, but it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my journalism studies so far.

Keep ReadingShow less
How Utah’s H.B. 222 Set the Stage for State-level Climate Liability Shields
A factory with smoke coming out of it
Photo by Anthony Maw on Unsplash

How Utah’s H.B. 222 Set the Stage for State-level Climate Liability Shields

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.

Background

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026