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.
3,168 Articles
Is Throwing a Rock Through a Window “Terrorism”? Some Federal Prosecutors Think So
Image by Tomas Castelazo— Wikimedia Did you know that throwing a rock through the window of a Whole Foods could be punished as a federal crime of terrorism? An Assistant United…
Who is Responsible for the Yemen Funeral Bombing, and How?
The aftermath of a bombing by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Photo: Almigdad Mojalli/IRIN The Saudi-led coalition has acknowledged, after initially denying, that it carried…
Mass Hacks of Private Email Aren’t Whistleblowing, They are at Odds With It
The Exxon Valdez after leaking more than 10 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in March, 1989. Image via NOAA/Wikimedia The world of 2016 is one where…
Masculinity, Jihad and Mobilization
In spite of considerable state and international efforts being spent to regulate terrorist groups and individuals labeled as terrorists, much less substantive scrutiny has been…
“A First Amendment in the Digital Age”—Peter Zenger Lecture
I had the honor of delivering the inaugural Peter Zenger lecture at Columbia Journalism School last week. The lecture is named for a newspaper publisher who was tried for libel…
Correcting the Record on Section 702: A Prerequisite for Meaningful Surveillance Reform, Part III
In our previous posts, we’ve argued that the NSA is collecting massive amounts of data about US citizens under conditions that have nothing to do with terrorism or national…
Letter to the Editor: Suggestions for Just Security’s Questions to the Presidential Candidates
I like the idea of Just Security‘s listing questions for the presidential nominees. As you ran them again before last night’s debate, and presumably may run them at…
Just Security’s Questions for Clinton and Trump
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national…
A Broken Playbook: The NYPD Targeted Muslims in Over 95-Percent of Investigations That Broke Surveillance Rules
The NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau consistently broke court-imposed rules governing investigations involving political activity, according to a recent report by the NYPD Inspector…
Correcting the Record on Section 702: A Prerequisite for Meaningful Surveillance Reform, Part II
Last week, we argued that the public discussion surrounding two of the government’s most controversial mass surveillance programs – PRISM and Upstream – has not sufficiently…
Unprecedented and Unlawful: The NSA’s “Upstream” Surveillance
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) — the statute the government uses to engage in warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international communications — is scheduled to…
Guide to the Presidential Candidates’ National Security Positions
As we have periodically done since its February launch, we’re updating our guide to the 2016 presidential candidates’ positions on national security matters. Today, we have…