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.
3,333 Articles
“Congressional Authorizations on Use of Force,” by Defense Dep’t Principal Deputy General Counsel William Castle (Full Text)
On Monday evening, William S. Castle, the Pentagon’s top lawyer, gave a speech entitled, “Congressional Authorizations on Use of Force?,” at the New York City Bar Association.…
Why Conservatives Should Embrace Bob Mueller
Conservatives have strong reasons to embrace—rather than try to discredit—Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. An effort appears underway to damage the credibility of Mueller’s…
The House Intelligence Committee’s Section 702 Markup Was a Politicized Debacle
On Dec. 1, 2017, the House Intelligence Committee took the unusual step of holding an open markup of its bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
Incomplete Justice: The Officer Who Killed Walter Scott Should Have Gotten Life Behind Bars
On Thursday, Michael Slager, a former police officer with the North Charleston, S.C. Police Department, was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison—not life imprisonment.…
Why Microsoft Challenged the Right Law: A Response to Orin Kerr
This coming spring, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the United States v. Microsoft – a case that will determine the authority of U.S. law enforcement to compel, via…
Former Prosecutor Renato Mariotti’s Tweet Threads on National Security (Dec. 1-8)
Here is an exposition and analysis of some of this week’s national security-related threads authored by Just Security Editorial Board member and former federal prosecutor Renato…
Thoughts on Erik Prince’s Proposal to Privatize Intelligence Gathering
This week we learned, via the Intercept, of Erik Prince’s proposal to provide the Trump Administration with a private intelligence outfit. According to the Intercept, “The…
Why Don Jr.’s Attorney-Client Privilege Claim Is Dubious
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, met with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) on Wednesday and raised eyebrows when he invoked attorney-client…
The Collateral Costs of a Logan Act Prosecution
Michael Flynn’s plea hearing last Friday—which I had the good fortune to witness—was accompanied by an extraordinary “Statement of the Offense.” The document indicates…
Hayden, NSA, and the Road to 9/11
Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA (and now, a national security analyst at CNN), has recently emerged as a leading critic of the Trump administration,…
Norms Watch: Democracy, the Trump Administration, and Reactions to It (Nov. 2017)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…
Why Trump’s Lawyer is Dead Wrong on Obstruction of Justice
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, John Dowd, now claims that the president “cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer” under Article…