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.

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3,183 Articles
The Washington Monument reflects in the Capitol Reflecting Pool at sunset on a warm evening on June 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

“When the Guardrails Erode” Series

Bringing together expert analysis that traces this erosion, assesses the risks for democratic governance, and outlines pathways to rebuild or even reinvent these safeguards.
U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, holds a gavel after signing the "One, Big Beautiful Bill" Act into law during an Independence Day military family picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)

Congress Shrinking from the World: the Constitution’s Article I in the Shadow of Trump 2.0

Congress has revealed itself less as a coequal branch and more as an accomplice in the marginalization of its own constitutional role in foreign and national security policy.
The Washington Monument reflects in the Capitol Reflecting Pool at sunset on a warm evening on June 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

When Guardrails Erode: An Anti‑Corruption Series

This series aims to document how erosion is happening, what it reveals, and what it demands from those committed to rebuilding and rethinking our systems of accountability.
The hand of a person in a suit peels back a stage curtain.

A Warm Welcome to Mark Nevitt as a Just Security Editorial Board Member!

We are thrilled to welcome distinguished scholar and Emory law professor Mark Nevitt, Commander, JAGC (ret.), as a new member of Just Security's Editorial Board.
Georgian opposition supporters rally in front of the parliament building in downtown Tbilisi on May 26, 2025, Georgia's Independence Day. (Photo by Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE / AFP) (Photo by GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE/AFP via Getty Images)

As Georgian Regime Intensifies Crackdown, U.S. Should Support Its People

Sanctions moving through Congress and a new, vocal U.S. ambassador could help protesting Georgian citizens restore an alliance with the West and avoid a turn to Russia, China.
Emil Bove, President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, is sworn in before testifying during his Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. A whistleblower alleged that Bove, President Trump's former personal lawyer, told Justice Department staff to defy court orders and continue to carry out Trump’s deportation plans. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Whistleblower Documents Implicate Emil Bove in Criminal Contempt Order by Chief Judge Boasberg

Email released by whistleblower would presumably implicate Bove in the “contumacious conduct” identified by Chief Judge Boasberg.
Taliban security personnel keep watch after the Eid al-Adha prayers at a checkpoint in Kabul on June 7, 2025. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The Taliban’s Slow Dismantling of Afghan Media

The slow death of Afghan media is a tragedy not just for the many brave Afghan journalists, but for the country as a whole.
Demonstrators hold up “Birthright Citizenship” sign outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025. (Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Hanging “Like a Guillotine”: Trump v. CASA and the Risk of Statelessness

For the first time in modern history, children born on American soil may be rendered stateless. The risk to non-citizen children is real and urgent.
A color drawing of Daniel Webster arguing before the Supreme Court.

Will to Resist: What Dartmouth Teaches Harvard About Protecting American Freedom

"One of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions arose from the courageous resolve of the Dartmouth College trustees to resist the unlawful encroachments..."
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JUNE 26: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine turns to watch a video of a bombing test of the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) used in the attack on the Iranian Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant during a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on June 26, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. The Department of Defense top officials gave an update after three Iranian nuclear facilities were struck by the U.S. military last weekend and Iran countered by launching missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The U.S. Attack on Iran Was Unconstitutional

Trump’s strike on Iran violated constitutional limits on the president's unilateral power to take the nation to war—an authority the Framers reserved for Congress.
A photo taken on April 25, 2024 shows a television transmission of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Autocracy, Corruption, and Decline: Why Hungary and Orbanism Must Never be a Model for the U.S.

Adopting Orban's model would reshape the U.S. into a country that shares Hungary's weakened checks and balances, corruption, and stumbling economy.
Scales of justice and judge's gavel on wooden table against American flag

Nondelegation and Major Questions Doctrines Can Constrain Power Grabs by Presidents of Both Parties

Enforcing the nondelegation and major questions doctrines can help curb the danger posed by sweeping authority concentrated in a president of either party.
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