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.
3,474 Articles
Do Not Pass Go: The Predictable Results of Subpoena Defiance
A short walk down memory lane shows how wrong former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg is about the consequences of defying a subpoena.
New Ruling Shows How Few Options There Are for Intelligence Community Whistleblowers
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a complaint by a CIA whistleblower (and spy), who goes by the pseudonym James Pars. The ruling by Judge Trevor McFadden could affect the willingness…
Supreme Court Cases Support Obstruction Charges Against the President
Is there a fundamental weakness in the potential case of obstruction against President Donald Trump? At the end of the day, the known facts regarding Trump’s actions are likely…
Norms Watch: Democracy, the Trump Administration, and Reactions to It (Feb. 2018)
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…
Russia “Previewed” Plan to Disseminate Emails with Trump Campaign
Goodman analyzes Schiff’s revelation that Russia gave preview to Trump campaign that the Kremlin could help disseminate stolen emails. Then he addresses the legally important…
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…