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

U.S. “Confronting” Iran inside Syria: Spoiling for an Unlawful Fight?
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meet during the BRICS/SCO Summits – Russia 2015 on July 09, 2015 in Ufa, Russia. (Photo by Alexey Filippov/Host…

Collusion Doesn’t Have to be Criminal to be an Ongoing Threat
During the hearing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday, some members of the House Judiciary Committee did not try to conceal their attempt to discredit and…

Want to Stop Homegrown Attacks? Start With Locally-Driven Violence Prevention
In her Congressional testimony last month, Elaine C. Duke, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, put one last nail in the coffin of a key Obama administration effort to fight…

No Winners: How the Int’l Criminal Court Should Avoid Confronting the United States
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda presents at the Fifth Annual Blouin Creative Leadership Summit in New York in 2011. (Credit: Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The Louise Blouin Foundation)…

The Truth About Rendition and Torture: An Inquiry in North Carolina
A Casa 235 turboprop plane with registration number N168D at Ruzyne Airport April 8, 2005 in Prague, Czech Republic. According to airport flight records the plane was registered…

Faith Based Leaders’ Letter to Trump: Anti-Muslim Tweets Threaten the First Amendment
Readers of Just Security may find of interest the letter that my colleagues and I at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection sent today…

USG Statement on Int’l Criminal Court Probe into Alleged U.S. War Crimes is Missing Some Things
As states gathered earlier this month to kick off the 16th Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, ICC watchers wondered what to expect from…

Beyond Customary International Law: What Jesner Can Learn From Corporate Criminal Liability for International Crimes
Ed. note. This article is the latest in our series on the U.S. Supreme Court case Jesner. v. Arab Bank, a case that is slated to resolve the question of whether corporations can…

Trump’s Year of Secrecy
In a representative democracy, the people are supposed to supervise the government’s activities and hold political leaders accountable for their decisions. That oversight…

“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…