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.
3,158 Articles
Trump’s Escalating Assault on the Justice Department: Time to Review Dershowitz’s Defense of Unreviewable Presidential Control of Federal Law Enforcement
President Trump has taken a dramatic turn in his push against the Justice Department. His approach his built on a theory that Alan Dershowitz defends on television. But when Dershowitz…
Getting to the Bottom of the Trump Tower Meeting
What the new documents tell us about some of the basic questions surrounding the fateful meeting.
Dispelling the NYT’s “The Daily” Podcast’s Misconceptions about Mueller’s Options
Professor Goodman explodes four common myths about Mueller's options if the special counsel finds the President engaged in criminal activity. Some avenues are closed or risky,…
Letter to the Editor: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Reader’s Guide
Harold Koh and the Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic should be proud of their work. Released on April 18, the Clinic’s “Reader’s Guide” to Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth…
Contempt of Congress, Contempt by Congress
The latest sideshow stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion is Congressmen Devin Nunes’s (R-Calif.) and Mark Meadows’s (R-N.C.)…
The Missing Justice Dep’t Memo on Whether a President Can Be Subpoenaed to Testify in a Criminal Case
A hot button issue in the Russian investigation is whether a sitting president can be subpoenaed to testify in a criminal proceeding. There's a critical Justice Department opinion…
Letter to the Editor: Much More Iceberg Below the Surface on Civilian Casualties
[Editor’s note: Ryan Goodman responds to Gabor Rona in a follow-on piece.] Ryan Goodman makes a compelling case that the United States undercounts its civilian casualties.…
The Intel Community’s Annual Transparency Report Raises More Questions Than It Answers
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's new mandatory report, summarizing certain intelligence agencies’ surveillance activities in 2017, is one of the most important…
Crime or Slime: Making Sense of Michael Cohen’s Shell Company
How do we know whether Michael Cohen's Essential Consultants was unlawful or just awful?
More Questions for Gina Haspel—The Record of False CIA Claims about Torture’s “Efficacy”
Recently Katherine Hawkins published a comprehensive set of questions that Gina Haspel, nominee to head the CIA, should be asked during her confirmation hearings (“What the…
Just Security Podcast: Alex Whiting on Mueller/Sekulow’s 49 Questions
This week, news organizations, led by the New York Times, revealed a list of 49 questions that, depending on which account you read, are what Special Counsel Mueller wants to ask…
What the Law of Military Obedience Can (and Can’t) Do–What Happens if a President’s Orders are Unlawful?
A proposal to bring back waterboarding and a “hell of a lot worse.” The possible suggestion that members of the military should intentionally target terrorists’ civilian…