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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3,333 Articles
A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing on March, 11 2023.

Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Politics of Détente

Senior diplomats from Saudi Arabia and Iran are meeting in Beijing tomorrow to discuss the next steps in restoring diplomatic relations following the Chinese-brokered agreement…
Woman walking on New York City sidewalk

Transnational Repression Increasingly Reaches Into the United States

In countering transnational repression, "[c]ivil litigation provides a pathway for holding ... authoritarian regimes directly accountable, not just their hired guns, if significant…
A man walks through Hebrew Street in the Albanian city of Berat on February 6, 2019, in front of the city's tiny Solomon Museum, the country's only Jewish history museum. (Photo by GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images)

Albanian Museum to Celebrate Jewish Life and “Righteous” Who Gave Shelter During Holocaust

The Muslim-majority country is known as the only Nazi-occupied territory during World War II where the Jewish population increased.
Chew, wearing a dark suit and blue tie, prepares to testify before Congress.

How Lawmakers Hope to Sidestep Existing National Security Reviews to Target Foreign Investment

Though regulatory efforts have worked to monitor the app’s potential national security threats so far, politicians growing impatient.
Manhattan Criminal Courthouse with increased presence of NYPD officers and media crew on March 31, 2023, the day after former President Donald Trump was indicted. Photo credit: Melissa Bender

The Broad Scope of “Intent to Defraud” in the New York Crime of Falsifying Business Records

"While there are other legal hurdles for the Manhattan DA to cross in the indictment of the former president, this element of the relevant offenses poses no obstacle..."
The episode title surrounded by audio waveforms.

The Just Security Podcast: An Indictment of Donald Trump

The alleged indictment raises important questions about efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election and the rule of law. 
An image of the episode title with sound waves underneath.

The Just Security Podcast: The Mayor of Les Irois

Determined victims and creative lawyers used a U.S, law, the Torture Victims Protection Act, to hold a powerful mayor accountable.
Facade of Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in Manhattan

Survey of Past Criminal Prosecutions for Covert Payments to Benefit a Political Campaign

Surreptitious third-party payments are routinely prosecuted as campaign finance violations in New York and nationally under various statutes.
U.S. Special Operations Commander Gen. Bryan Fenton, Assistant Defense Secretary for Special Operations Christopher Maier and Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, sit in at tables to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Congress Should Limit, Not Expand, Irregular Warfare Authority

Section 1202 of the NDAA is an overbroad authority that risks widening the aperture for U.S. forces to engage in and direct combat in unauthorized, foreign wars.
Journalists wearing flak jackets and carrying cameras and other equipment take shelter in a building underpass during a drone attack in the capital Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Government officials said Kyiv had been struck four times in an early morning Russian attack with Iranian drones that damaged a residential building and targeted the central train station. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Summit for Democracy: Trends in News Media’s Future, Forged in Ukraine

They face every obstacle. With support, they could help redefine how journalism reckons with era-defining challenges to the public sphere.
President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Salman stand next to each other.

A Long-Forgotten Law Could Force the U.S. to Re-Evaluate its Relationship with Saudi Arabia

Section 502B(c) is a potent tool to accelerate congressional oversight of support to countries with concerning human rights records. 
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