Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Trump Never Intended To Be Just

Trump Never Intended To Be Just

‘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

8 Keys to Working Across Differences

8 Keys to Working Across Differences

There's been little progress toward gender equity in politics

The Fulcrum Digest
By The Fulcrum DigestAug 24, 2021
The Fulcrum Digest
The Fulcrum is a contributor for The Fulcrum, a nonpartisan publication dedicated to strengthening democracy by fostering informed civic engagement and elevating diverse perspectives.
See More Writings by author

Podcast: America's two major political parties are simply too big News

Report: There's been little progress toward gender equity in politics

Sara Swann

While Kathy Hochul's induction this week as the first female governor of New York marked a significant milestone for women's representation, there has been little progress elsewhere in the United States to improve gender equity in politics.

Succeeding former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned following several accusations of sexual harassment, Hochul joins eight other women currently serving as governor. Only 44 other women in the nation's history have held that office, and 19 states have never had a woman governor.

Thursday marks Women's Equality Day, but over the last year, the U.S. has seen meager improvements in the number of women serving at the local, state and national levels. According to a report released Monday by RepresentWomen, just under one-quarter of all major elected officials in the country are women — an increase of less than 1 percentage point from 2020.

Keep reading...

Debate

America needs democracy learning communities

Our democracy needs learning and community. There is no better place to start than at the grassroots level by forming democracy learning communities all across America, in urban and rural areas, suburbs and exurbs, argues Paul Lachelier, the founder of Learning Life.

Podcast: America's two major political parties are simply too big

The two-party system is no longer working for the country, and the party primaries that serve it have fueled dysfunction rather than encouraging compromise and unity. Nick Troiano, the Executive Director of Unite America, and Lee Drutman, Unite America advisor, recently sat down to talk to Chuck Todd about reforming the political system on The Chuck ToddCast.

Community

Stay-cation Advocacy: Building Relationships Back Home

In this session with the Congressional Management Foundation, participants will learn about who lawmakers listen to and why; the most effective tactics and strategies to use in the district or state; how to build long-term relationships with lawmakers and their staff; and the best opportunities for setting up meetings and events back home.


Latest news

Democracy’s Crisis in Plain Sight: A Republic in Authoritarian Drift

Democracy’s Crisis in Plain Sight: A Republic in Authoritarian Drift

​A group of youngsters help posting posters.
Democracy

Combating America’s Toxic Polarization: Lessons from Northern Ireland’s Troubles

Group of people waving small American flags at sunset. Concept for different topics like Election Results, Happy Veterans Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, President day
Democracy

A Lesson from the Last Time America Felt This Fragile

A Wisconsin school board votes to keep dual language program after pushback from families, students
Education

A Wisconsin school board votes to keep dual language program after pushback from families, students

Read More

Jasmine Clark Is Poised To Be the First Black Woman Ph.D. Scientist in Congress

Jasmine Clark first ran for office and flipped a Republican-held state legislative district in 2018.

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Jasmine Clark Is Poised To Be the First Black Woman Ph.D. Scientist in Congress

LILBURN, GEORGIA — When state Rep. Jasmine Clark launched her campaign for Congress on a mission to enact generational change, she didn’t realize she could also make history.

Now, she’s poised to become the first Black woman Ph.D. scientist to serve in Congress. If she wins, she’ll be representing Georgia’s 13th Congressional District.

Keep ReadingShow less
Capitalism Without Competition Is Oligarchy
1 U.S.A dollar banknotes
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Capitalism Without Competition Is Oligarchy

For decades, Americans were told that globalization and free markets would deliver broadly shared prosperity. Instead, many saw stagnant wages, hollowed-out communities, and a growing concentration of wealth and power. The backlash was inevitable. But the real failure was not capitalism itself. It was the corruption of competition and the establishment’s generations-long indifference to the working class it left behind. That disregard didn’t just crater trust in institutions; it fueled populist backlash across the political spectrum, with anti-establishment anger now reshaping American politics.

Two truths define the American economic dilemma. First: competitive capitalism remains history’s most powerful engine for wealth creation, driving greater aggregate prosperity over the past two centuries than perhaps any other economic system. But averages are dangerous fictions; a man can easily drown in a lake that is, on average, two feet deep.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cathy Alderman: Housing Is Healthcare

Cathy Alderman

Cathy Alderman: Housing Is Healthcare

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) is working to address the lack of long-term affordable and supportive housing, which they identify as the only lasting solution to homelessness. Cathy Alderman, the organization’s Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer, emphasizes that the primary challenge is the "high cost not just of housing, but the cost of living" in Colorado, which creates a significant barrier for people trying to access stable housing or find rentals they can afford.

To address these challenges, the Coalition operates under the fundamental belief that "housing is healthcare". "We want to provide access to affordable housing and affordable health care so that people can be successful in the other areas of their life," Alderman said. As both a housing developer and a federally qualified health center, CCH manages approximately 2,000 units across 23 residential properties while providing integrated health services through clinics and street medicine teams.

Keep ReadingShow less
My Generation Can Spot the Deepfake. That’s Not Enough.
Smartphone with ai text in jeans pocket
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

My Generation Can Spot the Deepfake. That’s Not Enough.

Thomas Massie, a seven-term Republican congressman from Kentucky, lost his primary on May 19. The race cost $32.6 million, making it the most expensive congressional primary in U.S. history. Among the weapons deployed against him: an AI-generated video showing him checking into a hotel room with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, with their hands clasped. The narrator called it "worse than adultery." A disclaimer at the bottom of the screen, in small text, read: "This satirical ad was created with artificial intelligence."

I watched the ad. It looks ridiculous. The movements are slightly too smooth, the lighting is off, and the scenario is so cartoonish that I genuinely could not tell at first whether it was meant to be taken seriously. But I'm 17, and I've spent the last four years watching AI-generated content get better in real time. I know what the seams look like. Massie, in his post-loss interview on Meet the Press, was blunt about who the ad actually reached: "It was actually very effective on the boomers."

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026