Democracy & Rule of Law
Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis on threats and challenges to democracy and the rule of law in the United States and globally. Coverage includes analysis of the separation of powers, good governance, democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, judicial independence, freedom of the press and association, and accountability for rule of law violations.
3,363 Articles
“Fight for Trump”: Video Evidence of Incitement at the Capitol
New video footage scraped from Parler, and former federal prosecutors' reactions.
Gaps in Trump’s Pardons: How the Biden Administration Can Still Pursue Justice
Former FBI General Counsel and top prosecutor in Special Counsel's Office explains how the pardons for Bannon, Manafort, Stone left the door open for Justice Department to now…
U.S.-ICC Relations Under a Biden Administration: Room to Be Bold
The Trump administration approached the ICC with open and unproductive hostility. Can Biden reset relations? Kip Hale says yes: first, remove sanctions. Second, investigate and…
The American Insurrection Was a Gain for Dictators, and a Loss for Zimbabweans
The Jan. 6 Capitol riot marked a setback for millions of people around the world who yearn for more democratic societies where their voices matter.
On Biden’s Planned Summit: Humility, Not Hubris, Can Save Democracy
The voices of those who have suffered most from democracy’s ills are crucial to understanding – and addressing -- the impact of backsliding laws, policies, and institutions…
US Human Rights Policy: How to Really Build Back Better
The Biden administration must create a system in which human rights and democracy policymaking is embedded and integrated in its decision-making machinery.
MLK Believed “No Justice, No Peace”
Arguments that the protests over the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others betray King’s legacy are not only in bad faith, but plainly wrong.
Incitement to Violence Ain’t Free Speech
The First Amendment protects abstract appeals for illegal actions. But there can and should be criminal liability for speech that incites the likely and imminent risk of violence.…
History Shows the Senate Can Hold an Impeachment Trial After Trump Leaves Office
The suggestion that impeachment applies only when officials are in office is not consistent with the uniform practice of impeachments in US history.
Struggles of American Democracy and Implications for Human Intelligence
Despite our democracy’s recent struggles, and perhaps even enhanced by them, America's soft-power advantage is as true now as ever.
Ousted Autocratic Presidents and Their Backers in the Legislative Branch
Machinations of hardliners from Sri Lanka to Hungary, Colombia and more signal the trouble Trump and his supporters could make for the Biden administration.
A New Assault on a Democratic Citadel in Turkey, Too
A week before the Jan. 6 US Capitol attack, Turkey's president waged another kind of assault on one of his country’s last bastions of democratic thought.