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.

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3,333 Articles
A person types on a laptop. Translucent icons litter the image to represent cybersecurity.

CTRL+HALT+Defeat: State-Sponsored Surveillance and the Suppression of Dissent

A new lawsuit in Israeli court seeks accountability for the export of malicious spyware used for digital surveillance of human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents.…
Side-by-side photos of Nixon and Trump.

The Precedent for Impeachment: Nixon, Not Clinton

[Editor’s note: Just Security is publishing a series in conversation with Sidney Blumenthal’s “An Open Memo: Comparison of Clinton Impeachment, Nixon Impeachment and…

An Open Memo: Comparison of Clinton Impeachment, Nixon Impeachment and Trump Pre-Impeachment

Blumenthal writes, "The Clinton example as a predictor should be dispensed with in considering Trump. ... Trump proceeds from a much weaker position than Nixon. He depends entirely…
Side-by-side photos of Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow.

All the President’s Lawyers: A Chart of Misconduct and Possible Crimes Revealed by Mueller Report

A nine-page Chart closely tracks the Mueller Report’s references to potential wrongdoing by President Trump’s personal lawyers.
A copy of the Mueller Report opened to page 166 and 167. Significant portions of the text are redacted.

Enforcing Congressional Subpoenas: A Modest Proposal

A change in the law that would enhance Congress’s ability to extract information from the executive branch is a heavy lift, particularly in the current climate. With that in…
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) holds up copies of the Starr Report during a House Judiciary Committee markup vote on a resolution to issue a subpoena to the Justice Department to receive the full unredacted Mueller report, on Capitol Hill April 3, 2019 in Washington, DC.

The Barr-Nadler Subpoena Standoff: Still Room for Accommodation?

In its standoff with the House Judiciary Committee over the Mueller report, the Justice Department’s assertions when it comes to protecting its law enforcement equities, are…
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) presides over a mark-up hearing where members may vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for not providing an unredacted copy of special prosecutor Robert Mueller's report in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill May 08, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Q&A on House-Justice Dept Showdown Over Release of Unredacted Mueller Report and Contempt of Congress

We asked top expert Andy Wright, who has served in both the White House Counsel's Office and on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
A demonstrator holds a poster picturing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and a lightened candle during a gathering outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, on October 25, 2018.

Intelligence, Ethics and Bureaucracy: The Duty to Warn Jamal Khashoggi

The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists have obtained "Duty to Warn" documents that shed new light on what a U.S. intelligence officer would…
Moria Shapira Airbnb's apartment owner walks outside of her apartment in Adei Ad outpost north of the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on November 20 2018.

Palestinians Claim Violations by Israeli Settlers in Airbnb Case in U.S. Court

In March, two Palestinian-Americans and two Palestinian villages moved to intervene in a suit brought against Airbnb, a global home-rental online platform, in federal court in…
U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks with a clenched fist about the release of the redacted version of the Mueller report as U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and U.S. Acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan stand behind him at the Department of Justice April 18, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Don’t Get Lured by False Question of Whether Mueller Got “Played” by Barr

"Maneuvering 'around' the Attorney General was not how Mueller saw his job—indeed, it was not his job—and it’s not how we should see it, either."
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) chairs the House Oversight Committee as Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump testifies on Capitol Hill February 27, 2019 in Washington, DC.

The Mazars USA Subpoena as an Existential Threat to President Trump

The ‘friendly’ subpoena recently served on the tax and accounting firm Mazars USA seeking client records related to Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization may not have…
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein joins U.S. Attorney General William Barr as he speaks during a press conference on the release of the redacted version of the Mueller Report at the Department of Justice April 18, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Norms Watch: Damage to Democracy and Rule of Law in April 2019

Our latest collection of a month's most significant breaks with democratic traditions highlights threats to investigate the Russia probe investigators and to release migrants as…
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