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.
3,157 Articles
Trump’s New Target: The Justice Department’s Inspector General
President Donald Trump repeated his totally bizarre attacks against his own attorney general on Wednesday, but this time he included a new target for his anger: the Justice Department’s…
Important Report by White House on National Security Due Soon
The executive branch owes it to Congress—and all of us—to deliver the answers Congress has demanded to do the critical job assigned to our national legislature and serve the…
Deciphering the Redactions in the Schiff Memo
Almost as important as what the Schiff memo says is what it doesn’t say, because it got redacted. But, for various reasons, we’re still able to discern what lies behind some…
Will the Next Use of Force “Transparency Report” be Transparent? Devil May be in Classified Details
Congress recently required the President to submit a report that describes the administration’s legal and policy positions on the use of military force and related national security…
Mueller’s Uphill Battle: Obstruction Law and the Comey Firing
Did the president commit a violation of federal criminal law when he fired the FBI director? Many commentators assume that the president has violated one of several criminal statutes…
Just Security Podcast: New Manafort, Gates Indictments Bring Mueller Investigation Ever Closer to Trump Inner Circle
Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a host of new charges this week against former Trump advisers Paul Manafort and Rick Gates (pictured above). The charges, some of which are…
Can “Fake News” be stopped?
The David Hogg conspiracy theory highlights the speed at which false information spreads on social media. And it is currently beyond the capacity of automated systems to determine…
Episode 60 of the National Security Podcast: TL;DL – This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
An over-long episode with a short title to reflect a very busy–and somewhat bizarre–eight day stretch in the wide world of national security law. This week, your hosts Professor…
The Microsoft Design Decisions That Caused this Mess
I need not spend much space on the merits of United States v. Microsoft, the case about the extraterritoriality of email search warrants that the Supreme Court will decide this…
The Pardon Boomerang: Why Trump Associates May Need to Decline Any Offer of a Pardon
With the idea of presidential pardons resurfacing, there’s a reason that option may simply not work for the President. Trump associates would face a significant risk that their…
Microsoft (Ireland) and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Microsoft (Ireland) raises a difficult policy question about when and how U.S. law enforcement may access cross-border data. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court is seemingly set to…
“Extraterritorial” Is Not a Bad Word, Even on the Internet
In the world of Internet policy, it is a slur to call something an assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction. Coverage of, for example, Canada’s recent ruling against Google…