Democratic Backsliding & Solutions

Finding the spirit of liberty in the United States requires looking beyond the leadership of elite institutions. Among ordinary citizens, there’s no scarcity of civic courage.

CBP’s handling of the investigation into Alex Pretti's death signals a troubling shift away from the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

An internal ICE memo authorizes agents to enter homes for immigration arrests without judicial approval, breaking with DHS policy and raising Fourth Amendment concerns.

A deep dive into the Trump administration’s first-year deregulatory agenda, Supreme Court influences, and the evolving limits of agency authority.

The deterioration in human rights in 2025 heightens the risks for defenders going forward, all worsened by donors' deep funding cuts, especially those of the United States.

Dani Schulkin is joined by former State Department officials Sky Miller and Adam Keith to discuss anti-corruption efforts in the U.S. and abroad. 

The Combating Global Corruption Act presents an imperfect but useful opportunity to rebuild the U.S. government’s anti-corruption practices.

Americans' refusals to accept apparent abuses of power by the federal government indicate that the political winds may be starting to shift.

Dani Schulkin is joined by Naomi Roht-Arriaza to discuss the warning signs of state capture and grand corruption, and what can be done to push back against it. 

Unless Congress reasserts control over federal spending, the balance the framers designed could collapse into a self-financing presidency.

The Croatian government appears to be embracing far-right actions at home and abroad as it undermines neighboring Bosnia's sovereignty and democracy.

Patterns of state capture in South Africa, El Salvador, Sri Lanka and Guatemala offer a cautionary guide for the United States.