• Home
  • Independent Voter News
  • Quizzes
  • Election Dissection
  • Sections
  • Events
  • Directory
  • About Us
  • Glossary
  • Opinion
  • Campaign Finance
  • Redistricting
  • Civic Ed
  • Voting
  • Fact Check
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up

Mark Botsford

    FollowUnfollowFollowing
    Big Picture

    It can happen here: Latin America's lessons about autocrats unpunished

    Mark Botsford
    January 21, 2021
    Ecuador dictator Rafael Correa

    Donald Trump reminds Botsford of how other autocrats, like Ecuador's Rafael Correa, combined falsehoods and grievance politics to create an enemy.

    Franklin Jácome/ACG/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Botsford, a contributing editor, for The Fulcrum, has spent most of his career providing strategic advice to more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies doing business in Latin America.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    autocracy

    Join an Upcoming Event

    View All Events
    Big Picture

    6 of the most important democracy books of the past 6 months

    Mark Botsford
    March 13, 2020
    political books
    Sara Swann/Getty Images

    "Groaning bookshelves about our divisive times" are one of the main features of the publishing world these days, Kirkus Reviews notes. So we identified six books, all published since last summer, that are particularly worthy of note in a campaign season when the faulty functionality of American democracy is getting discussed more than in any previous modern election.

    The authors come from the political left, right and center — but they all have a broadly similar panoramic view of the dysfunction plaguing our democracy. And their prescriptions for reversing the decline have more in common than not. What they all agree on: The principles of our Constitution are under assault and the citizenry's only chance at a successful counter attack is by embracing a broad array of plans for strengthening democratic institutions.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    big picture
    Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
    Follow
    Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
    Follow
    Contributors

    Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening?

    David Thornburgh
    John Opdycke

    The U.S. has been seeking the center since the days of Teddy Roosevelt

    Dave Anderson

    Imperfection and perseverance

    Jeff Clements

    We’ve expanded the Supreme Court before. It’s time to do so again.

    Anushka Sarkar

    The ‘great replacement theory’ is nonsense

    Debilyn Molineaux

    Inflation will hit health of low-income Americans hardest

    Robert Pearl
    latest News

    Nearly 20 states have restricted private funding of elections

    David Meyers
    7h

    Video: Will Trump run in 2024?

    Our Staff
    11h

    The state of voting: May 23, 2022

    Our Staff
    23 May

    Trump looms large over Tuesday’s primaries

    Richard Perrins
    23 May

    Podcast: Abortion politics take center stage

    Our Staff
    23 May

    Your Take: Inspiring sports memories

    Our Staff
    20 May
    Videos

    Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

    Our Staff

    Video: What happened in Virginia?

    Our Staff

    Video: Infrastructure past, present, and future

    Our Staff

    Video: Beyond the headlines SCOTUS 2021 - 2022

    Our Staff

    Video: Should we even have a debt limit

    Our Staff

    Video: #ListenFirstFriday Yap Politics

    Our Staff
    Podcasts

    Podcast: Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

    Our Staff
    02 May

    Podcast: The future of depolarization

    Our Staff
    11 February

    Podcast: Sore losers are bad for democracy

    Our Staff
    20 January

    Deconstructed Podcast from IVN

    Our Staff
    08 November 2021
    Recommended
    Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening?

    Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening?

    Voting
    Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg

    Nearly 20 states have restricted private funding of elections

    State
    Video: Will Trump run in 2024?

    Video: Will Trump run in 2024?

    Elections
    State of voting - election law changes

    The state of voting: May 23, 2022

    Voting
    Mo Brooks and Donald Trump

    Trump looms large over Tuesday’s primaries

    Voting
    Podcast: Abortion politics take center stage

    Podcast: Abortion politics take center stage

    Leadership