Democracy’s benefits have always been unequal

+ ensuring AI plays fair US Edition - Today's top story: US democracy's unaddressed flaws undermine Biden's stand as democracy's defender − but Trump keeps favoring political violence [View in browser]( US Edition | 19 March 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [A foreign intervention won’t fix Haiti]( - [How to cope with toxic stress]( - [Is a culinary degree really worth $50K?]( Lead story For some time, President Joe Biden has been saying that “democracy is on the ballot” in the 2024 presidential election. Many have echoed Biden, stating that the choice between Biden and Donald Trump is an existential one for U.S. democracy. But because I’m a journalist and have been taught that if your mother says she loves you, check it out, I wanted to know whether this often-repeated phrase is really true. Is the future of democracy in America at stake in the upcoming election? Scholars Dayna Cunningham and Peter Levine tackled that question for us. The two lead nonpartisan efforts to educate college students and others about their roles in democracy at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. So democracy is at the center of their professional lives. And their answer to my question? That the answer is more complicated than the question. “We believe there are potential threats to U.S. democracy posed by the choices voters make in this election,” they write. “But the [benefits of American democracy have for centuries been unequally available](, and any discussion of the current threats needs to happen against that background.” Cunningham and Levine range through a variety of sources to paint what they call a “complex picture” of threats to democracy. That simple question I asked of them? I knew there was no simple answer. [[The latest from the the world of philanthropy and nonprofits. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Giving Today.](] Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Democracy Democracy in the U.S. has historically not been available to all. Panacea Doll/iStock / Getty Images Plus [US democracy’s unaddressed flaws undermine Biden’s stand as democracy’s defender − but Trump keeps favoring political violence]( Dayna Cunningham, Tufts University; Peter Levine, Tufts University There are potential threats to US democracy posed by the choices voters make in this presidential election. But the benefits of American democracy have for centuries been unequally available. Health + Medicine - [How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help]( Lawson R. Wulsin, University of Cincinnati No one can escape stress, but sometimes it takes a physical and emotional toll that translates to disease and other health effects. The good news is that there are new approaches to treating it. Science + Technology - [Building fairness into AI is crucial – and hard to get right]( Ferdinando Fioretto, University of Virginia Bias in AI has been getting a lot of attention lately, but it’s just one aspect of the larger – and thornier – problem of fairness in AI. International - [Haiti is in crisis, but foreign intervention comes with an ugly past]( Ernesto Sagás, Colorado State University Can a multinational security mission provide Haiti with a stable future? Not without sustained funding for after the troops leave. - [76% of Africa’s energy could come from renewable sources by 2040]( Christiane Zarfl, University of Tübingen; Rebecca Peters, University of Tübingen If Africa built only all the renewable power plants it has already planned, this would be enough to generate 76% of all electricity needed on the continent by 2040. Arts + Culture - [$50K per year for a degree in a low-wage industry − is culinary school worth it?]( Ellen T. Meiser, University of Hawaii at Hilo Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay recently pilloried these institutions for saddling students with debt prior to sending them off into a low-wage industry. But many graduates have no regrets. Ethics + Religion - [What the Buddhist text Therigatha teaches about women’s enlightenment]( Jue Liang, Case Western Reserve University The Therigatha, a collection of poems written in Pāli by Buddhist nuns, reveals that women’s enlightenment may not necessarily require renunciation of domestic life. Environment + Energy - [Female mosquitoes rely on one another to choose the best breeding sites − and with the arrival of spring, they’re already on the hunt]( Kaylee Marrero, Florida International University; Andre Luis da Costa da Silva, Florida International University; Matthew DeGennaro, Florida International University Female mosquitoes don’t want to lay their eggs alone, but they don’t want sites that are too crowded either. Understanding what guides their choice could inform new control strategies. - [How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk, in Detroit and elsewhere]( Jacob Napieralski, University of Michigan-Dearborn Mapping where water once flowed is important for managing flood risk today in Detroit and elsewhere. Politics + Society - [Supreme Court’s questions about First Amendment cases show support for ‘free trade in ideas’]( Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University These cases have asked the justices to consider how to apply some of the most sweeping constitutional protections – those of free speech – to an extremely complex online communication environment. Economy + Business - [Donor-advised funds: US regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom in these charitable giving accounts]( Brian Mittendorf, The Ohio State University Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving. Trending on site - [Titanosaurs were the biggest land animals Earth’s ever seen − these plant-powered dinos combined reptile and mammal traits]( - [April’s eclipse will mean interruptions in solar power generation, which could strain electrical grids]( - [Is TikTok’s parent company an agent of the Chinese state? In China Inc., it’s a little more complicated]( Today's graphic 📈 [An analysis of 37,000 Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to federal agencies through MuckRock.com shows that in 2010, barely more than half of requests yielded the records sought. But by 2022, barely more than 10% of requests met with success. The chances of getting records from a federal agency have been on a downward trend from 2010 to 2022.]( From the story, [Growing secrecy limits government accountability]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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