Democracy

As a federal-level accountability desert forms, states are reviving "collateral accountability" — damages suits against federal officers who violate constitutional rights.

States must be vigilant stewards of their data — auditing what they hold, limiting what they share, and enforcing legal constraints against federal overreach.

Lessons from Nixon's forgotten essay in defense of his infamous remark.

States have constitutional protections against commandeering and coercion — but face a new challenge when the federal government sidelines states completely.

State and local governments have constitutional and legal powers that can be harnessed to challenge repressive federal actions and to advance meaningful freedom and equality.

Tracking the use of State power requires systematically identifying linkages between individual developments and broader trends. This interactive graphic offers one method.

Our democratic institutions are under strain, but one thing must be true if any reform is to take hold: government must deliver, and that delivery must be felt by all people.

America’s civil service, built for a bygone era, urgently needs bold, comprehensive reform to build a government capable of delivering for the 21st century.

Domestic policy experts offer principles for reinvention meant to inform the work of policymakers, advocates, and governance rebuilders as they redesign federal institutions.

Ukraine's survival in the face of Russia's aggression demonstrates how U.S. support to civil society and democratic institutions becomes a national security asset.

Georgian Dream is crushing Georgia's civil society, courts, and opposition to entrench one-party rule and Russian influence; only targeted U.S. and EU sanctions can stop it.

Research shows that, more than military strikes or sanctions, authoritarians fear support for independent media, anti-censorship tech, and civil society.