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.
3,152 Articles
The Declining Half-Life of Secrets
Image credit: US Government via Wikimedia Commons The following post is a preview of a new paper from New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative, where the author is a fellow.…
CIA and OLC Must Release More “Secret” Documents on Aulaqi Drone Strike
On Thursday, a federal district court in New York issued its latest ruling in the ACLU’s long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation seeking the legal and factual…
Cross-Border Shootings as a Test Case for the Extraterritorial Fourth Amendment
Ever since the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in Boumediene v. Bush, courts and commentators alike have wondered about the relationship between the functional approach…
It’s Time to End the “Debate” on Encryption Backdoors
Yesterday, on Lawfare, FBI Director James Comey laid out his concern that the growing adoption of strong encryption technologies will frustrate law enforcement’s ability to conduct…
10 Questions about the UK Spying on Amnesty International
Yesterday, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal informed Amnesty International that British intelligence agency GCHQ had spied on the human rights organization by intercepting…
Video and Highlights From a Conversation on Countering Violent Extremism
Just Security and the Project for the Study of the 21st Century (PS21) recently hosted an extremely interesting discussion between ex senior UN counter terrorism official Richard…
There’s No Reason to Hide the Amount of Secret Law
Last week, President Obama announced a new policy that would allow private parties to pay ransoms to hostage takers. The policy was established through an executive order and an…
Sloppy Cyber Threat Sharing Is Surveillance by Another Name
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Has the CIA Asked the FISC to Restart Its Bulk Collection Program?
There’s a curious gap in the documents currently posted on the FISC’s public docket — one that suggests the NSA call records program isn’t the only type of bulk collection…
Latest UK Judgment on Post-Snowden Surveillance
On June 22, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) gave its latest judgment in the post-Snowden surveillance litigation brought by several NGOs against the UK Government…
The FISC’s Newest Opinion: Proof of the Need for an Amicus
In the first public opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) since the USA Freedom Act became law, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that the law revived the…
Questions That Should be Asked About Seal Team 6 and the Laws of War
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…