Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Want different politics? Pay attention to women like these.

Victoria Woodhull

"Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for president in 1872, with Frederick Douglass as her running mate," writes Debilyn Molineaux.

Hulton Archive/Gerry Images

Molineaux is the co-founder and executive director of Bridge Alliance, a coalition of more than 90 civic reform groups. (Disclosure: The Bridge Alliance Education Fund is a funder of The Fulcrum.)

This is the third in a series of opinion pieces we are publishing during Women's History Month to recognize the contributions of women to the democracy reform movement.

Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for president in 1872, with Frederick Douglass as her running mate. While disparaged and trivialized at the time, she was relentless in pursuing equal rights and labor reforms. Many advances made in the early 20th century can be traced back to Woodhull's "radical ideas" from the 19th century.

Our lesson: Never underestimate the ability of women to transform our culture. One of the greatest strengths of women is transmuting their experience into something for the good of our larger human family.


There are many women who inspire with their courage, tenacity and intelligence. Here are four of them.

Jackie Salit

As she says in the preface of her book, "Independents Rising," politics is in Salit's blood. Her career as an independent began before it was cool in the 1970s. In fact, it was not talked about in polite company, but she did anyway. She has campaigned for independent candidates and fought for ballot access, voting rights and redistricting in more places than people can imagine. And now with 42 percent of registered voters not affiliated with a party, Salit leads Independent Voting with strategic vision and tactical street smarts that is bringing about a better America where we are all authentically empowered to be citizens, regardless of our party or lack of one.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Zaneeta Daver

Now the COO of Civic Nation, Daver is an educator, systems analyst and thinker with a side of curriculum development. In other words, she likes to be in the background, contributing with her entrepreneurial style and whole-human approach. Her career spans higher education and consulting, thinking about how we can become the multicultural society we claim to be. Daver has been a thinking partner in creating our shared future, influencing the work of Bridge Alliance (and therefore 100 organizations) in an understated or subtle way. Daver is an example of a powerful woman who doesn't need the spotlight to make a difference.

Katherine Gehl

Gehl was CEO of her family's Gehl Foods Inc. when she became concerned about the state of our country and used her business expertise to analyze what was wrong and how our politics could be better. This led to her researching and writing the 2017 report "Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America" with Michael Porter. This historic look at politics through a business lens is the undergirding to many of the democratic reforms being advanced today — including single-ballot, top-five primaries with ranked-choice voting general elections. Her insight into politics as an industry with unhealthy competition is a new way of viewing our system with a plan to transform it.

Mary Stanley

Stanley was a mentor and often gruff friend to many women who ran for office for 47 years. She was a relentless supporter and helped get dozens of women elected. In 1971, she participated as a Republican in the formation of National Women's Political Caucus along with Gloria Steinheim, Bella Abzug and others. She changed parties after the GOP failed to support ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and removed reproductive rights from its platform, two issues she saw as essential for women's equality. Stanley was in constant contact with her elected representatives, building a relationship with each, one postcard, letter, phone call and visit at a time. She ran fundraisers, offered endorsements and was relentless in her advocacy for more women in elected office. The many she met selling buttons and bumper stickers at political events did not know she donated all profits to female candidates. She held fundraisers for Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein (who sent her birthday presents each year) and Karen Humphrey, the first female mayor of Fresno, Calif. Many women in office today owe their start to Stanley. She would be so proud of them.

What is the legacy we would leave for our descendants? Let's map the path and start. Together and with perseverance, we can create the future our children and grandchildren will inherit and write about.

Read More

Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship
Getty Images, Mykyta Ivanov

Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship

The current approaches to proactively counteracting authoritarianism and censorship fall into two main categories, which we call “fighting” and “Constitution-defending.” While Constitution-defending in particular has some value, this article advocates for a third major method: draining interest in authoritarianism and censorship.

“Draining” refers to sapping interest in these extreme possibilities of authoritarianism and censorship. In practical terms, it comes from reducing an overblown sense of threat of fellow Americans across the political spectrum. When there is less to fear about each other, there is less desire for authoritarianism or censorship.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hands outside of bars.
Getty Images, stevanovicigor

Double Standard: Investing in Animal Redemption While Ignoring Human Rehabilitation

America and countries abroad have mastered the art of taming wild animals—training the most vicious killers, honing killer instincts, and even domesticating animals born for the hunt. Wild animals in this country receive extensive resources to facilitate their reintegration into society.

Americans spent more than $150 billion on their pets in 2024, with an estimated spending projection of $200 million by 2030. Millions of dollars are poured into shelters, rehabilitation programs, and veterinary care, as shown by industry statistics on animal welfare spending. Television ads and commercials plead for their adoption. Stray animal hotlines operate 24/7, ensuring immediate rescue services. Pet parks, relief stations in airports, and pageant shows showcase animals as celebrities.

Keep ReadingShow less