Authoritarianism
241 Articles

Foreign Interference and the Democratic Self-Defense Trap: A European Perspective Going into the 2026 Midterms
How to safeguard elections against genuine foreign interference while preventing incumbent governments from exploiting allegations of interference to undermine voting rights?
The Just Security Podcast: How State and Local Governments Can Fight Back Against Authoritarianism
Erwin Chemerinsky and Aziz Huq discuss the powers that state and local governments can use to serve as a check against authoritarianism and federal overreach.

Just Security’s Climate Archive
A catalog of articles analyzing the diplomatic, political, legal, security, and humanitarian consequences of the international climate crisis.

Hard Lessons from Brazil on Defending Democracy
The United States could learn from Brazil about forming a cross-sectoral coalition to defend democratic institutions. So why is it falling short?

State Attorneys General Can Enforce Federal Laws the Executive Branch Won’t
To combat executive non-enforcement, state attorneys general are using antitrust law to hold corporations accountable.

“Fight Back: How States Can Counter Authoritarianism” Series
A series exploring the powers and authorities state and local governments have to check federal overreach and protect democratic norms and individual rights.

America Sent Them Into a Dictatorship’s Torture Chambers, Then Looked Away
The United States is deporting third-country nationals to Equatorial Guinea despite its documented pattern of human rights abuses.

Governors and State Administration
Gubernatorial opposition is a powerful and often necessary component of meaningful state pushback against federal overreach.

Cities as Nodes of Resistance
Over 175 years later, cities’ historic role as hubs of resistance takes on renewed resonance in today’s era of rising authoritarianism in the United States.

State Imperatives to Protect Civil Rights for All
States need independent agencies with jurisdiction to enforce their residents’ rights so the valuation of those rights are evenhanded and not subject to political will.

Collateral Accountability: The Oldest Check on Federal Lawlessness
As a federal-level accountability desert forms, states are reviving "collateral accountability" — damages suits against federal officers who violate constitutional rights.

States Can Fight Federal Overreach by Protecting State Data
States must be vigilant stewards of their data — auditing what they hold, limiting what they share, and enforcing legal constraints against federal overreach.