Democracies are in danger. Around the world, a rising wave of populist leaders threatens to erode the core structures of democratic self rule. In the United States, the election of Donald Trump marked a decisive turning point for many. What kind of president calls the news media the “enemy of the American people,” or sees a moral equivalence between violent neo-Nazi protesters in paramilitary formation and residents of a college town defending the racial and ethnic diversity of their homes? Yet, whatever our concerns about the current president, we can be assured that the Constitution offers safeguards to protect against lasting damage—or can we? How to Save a Constitutional Democracy mounts an urgent argument that we can no longer afford to be complacent. Drawing on a rich array of other countries’ experiences with democratic backsliding, Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq show how constitutional rules can either hinder or hasten the decline of democratic institutions. The checks and balances of the federal government, a robust civil society and media, and individual rights—such as those enshrined in the First Amendment—do not necessarily succeed as bulwarks against democratic decline. Rather, Ginsburg and Huq contend, the sobering reality for the United States is that, to a much greater extent than is commonly realized, the Constitution’s design makes democratic erosion more, not less, likely. Its structural rigidity has had the unforeseen consequence of empowering the Supreme Court to fill in some details—often with doctrines that ultimately facilitate rather than inhibit the infringement of rights. Even the bright spots in the Constitution—the First Amendment, for example—may have perverse consequences in the hands of a deft communicator, who can degrade the public sphere by wielding hateful language that would be banned in many other democracies. But we—and the rest of the world—can do better. The authors conclude by laying out practical steps for how laws and constitutional design can play a more positive role in managing the risk of democratic decline.

From London to Libya, from Istanbul to Iceland, there is great interest among comparative constitutional scholars and practitioners about when a proposed constitution is likely to succeed. But what does it mean for a constitution to succeed? Are there universal criteria of success, and which apply across the board? Or, is the choice of criteria entirely idiosyncratic? This edited volume takes on the idea of constitutional success and shows the manifold ways in which it can be understood. It collects essays from philosophers, political scientists, empiricists and legal scholars, that approach the definition of constitutional success from many different angles. It also brings together case studies from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. By exploring a varied array of constitutional histories, this book shows how complex ideas of constitutional success play out differently in different contexts and provides examples of how success can be differently defined under different circumstances.

Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents is a series that provides primary source documents and expert commentary on the worldwide counter-terrorism effort. Among the documents collected are transcripts of Congressional testimony, reports by such federal government bodies as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and case law covering issues related to terrorism. Most volumes carry a single theme, and inside each volume the documents appear within topic-based categories. The series also includes a subject index and other indices that guide the user through this complex area of the law. Volume 123, Global Stability and U.S. National Security, includes documents that illuminate instability concerns in key regions of the world and offer insights into how the lack of stability negatively affects U.S. interests, as well as the interests of other nations. The documents selected by Douglas Lovelace include primarily studies of instability concerns in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a document providing a general assessment of global stability and reports on Southeast and Central Asia and Latin America.

Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents is a hardbound series that provides primary-source documents and expert commentary on the worldwide counter-terrorism effort. Among the documents collected are transcripts of Congressional testimony, reports by such federal government bodies as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and case law covering issues related to terrorism. Most volumes carry a single theme, and inside each volume the documents appear within topic-based categories. The series also includes a subject index and other indices that guide the user through this complex area of the law. Volume 120, U.S. Preparedness for Catastrophic Attacks, discusses the critical topic of U.S. preparedness for catastrophic events. Doug Lovelace introduces documents that will inform researchers and practitioners of international law and national security about the ability of the United States to prevent and deter a catastrophic attack, as well as to mitigate and cope with the effects of such an attack. This volume is divided into three sections: (1) Deterring and Defending Against Catastrophic Attacks; (2) Warning, Detection and Reaction to Catastrophic Attacks; and (3) Policy Voids and Initiatives Regarding Catastrophic Attacks on the United States. In each of these sections Doug Lovelace has selected CRS and GAO reports that provide insightful analysis of the issues at hand. Volume 120 examines diverse topics such as infrastructure protection, threat detection technology (biosurveillance, advanced spectroscoping portals for detection of nuclear materials), evacuation policy, cyberspace security, and federal assistance to state and local authorities for emergency preparedness.

Volume 113 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Piracy and International Maritime Security provides key international materials on piracy. International treaties, such as the Draft Convention on Piracy, the Geneva Convention on the High Seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are provided, which help to define piracy under international law. This volume also contains documents that discuss international jurisdiction over the crime of piracy and its enforcement. Piracy is one of the few international crimes subject to universal jurisdiction, which gives all states the right but not the duty to prosecute. International case law on the use of force in apprehending pirates is provided, along with national piracy legislation and cases.

Volume 115 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Gangs, Terrorism, and International Disorder discusses the growing impact criminal groups have had on national and international security systems. As the nexus between gangs and terrorist groups becomes stronger, this volume will help analysts and governments better defend against their threats.

Volume 116 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Assessing President Obama's National Security Strategy extends the previous volumes on the Administration's national security policy by highlighting its specific strategies. The volume provides an assessment of the Quadrennial Defense Review and the Obama Administration's strategy on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It also includes assessments of the Administration's position on states' rights in controlling illegal aliens, the Department of State's foreign operations, and the Afghanistan strategy. Finally, documents assessing the relationship of terrorism to criminality and weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation strategy for Iran are also provided. The documents and assessments in this volume help readers identify the challenges of implementing a national security strategy.

Volume 117 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Conflict in Afghanistan, includes recent documents relating to the conflict in Afghanistan against the Taliban and its foreign allies. The volume addresses components of the new approach of integrating political and military strategies to improve Western approaches in the region. The first section of the volume includes documents generated by the North American Treaty Organization. These documents focus on the concept of counter-insurgency as a new approach to war-making. The second section focuses on documents issued by the United Nations: those describing the political side of the military conflict, the human rights situation, and the socio-economic dimension of international efforts. The third section portrays the European Union's role in Afghanistan. The final section includes an overview of recent political and military developments. This collection of documents provides a comprehensive documentary overview of strategies in Afghanistan as of early 2010.

Volume 118 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, International Nuclear Security contains documents that illustrate the implementation and evolution of the nuclear regulation, disarmament, and non-proliferation regimes created by various states and international bodies. Efforts to control nuclear weapons have redoubled since the events of September 11, 2001. In order to help States prevent and respond to the risk of nuclear terrorism, the International Atomic Energy Agency established a nuclear security program in 2002 and the United Nations General Assembly also adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism in 2005. Both instruments focus on verification and the various other documents in this volume provide a comprehensive look at modern efforts to combat nuclear security concerns.

Volume 112 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Discerning President Obama's National Defense Strategy, makes available documents from the first fifteen months of the Obama administration that provide insights into its developing national defense strategy. Included are documents specifically relating to the U.S. Department of Defense and the nation's armed forces. Included is the February 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Report of the Department of Defense, one of the most significant documents providing insight into the defense component of national security. General Editor Douglas Lovelace, an expert in U.S. military matters, elucidates the complexities of military spending and of counter-insurgency tactics. Also included are reports detailing the strategy and performance of government agencies involved in the security effort, such as the Department of Homeland Security. These reports shed light on internal department assessments as well as external evaluations. Finally, strategy documents produced by the U.S. armed forces describe the national security policy being implemented by the nation's senior military leaders. Researchers will benefit from the focused and comprehensive nature of these reports.

In this volume of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, entitled "U.N. Response to Al Qaeda", new General Co-Editor Kristen Boon covers the history that started with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267 in 1999 and that continues today. In that document, the United Nations established sanctions against any individuals or organizations financially supporting those two terrorist organizations or Osama bin Laden. With her expert commentary on all documents flowing from that resolution, Boon traces the unfolding fate of those sanctions, from the amending resolutions that expanded the sanctions' purview to the provision of a notice period for targeted parties to specific countries and regions' implementing legislation to court challenges claiming that the sanctions violate the targeted parties' human rights. No other book offers what this volume does: an expert guide to the U.N.'s first effort at sanctioning a select group of parties rather than a broad, comprehensive category of unspecificed people.

Volume 109 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, "Terror-Based Interrogation", provides a documentary history of U.S. interrogation policy since 9/11. General Editor Douglas Lovelace presents in this volume the Bush Administration memos that asserted a legal basis for coercive interrogation, commonly known as the "torture memos", including those written by the controversial Department of Justice attorney John Yoo. Volume 109 guides researchers from those memos through Congressional efforts at banning torture to current Obama Administration steps to ensure compliance with international norms against coercive interrogation. Students and scholars alike will find in this volume an indispensible source for research on U.S. interrogation policies in the post-9/11 era.

Volume 110 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, "Assessing the GWOT", provides researchers with a one-volume update on how the U.S. is faring in its global war on terrorism, or "GWOT". The volume pays special attention to the monetary cost of that war. General Editor Douglas Lovelace also guides readers through a regional tour of the GWOT's battlefields, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Researchers will benefit especially from Lovelace's analysis of the influence that Iran currently exercises over insurgent activity in Iraq. Given the many facets of U.S. anti-terror policy and the many strands of the legal debate over it, this volume provides a helpfully consice and illuminating picture of the current state of that policy.

Volume 105 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents ("Narco-Terrorism") brings researchers up to date on U.S. and international efforts to stem terrorism related to drug trafficking. In the pages of this volume, readers will find both legal documents from criminal cases against narco-terrorists and governmental reports on how to approach the problem on a broader level. After showing recent trends in combating narco-terrorism globally, Volume 105 focuses on the rising drug crises in Colombia and Afghanistan. Researchers will find in this volume not just U.S. agencies' major reports on international drug-trafficking but also similarly comprehensive reports from international organizations, from NGOs to the U.N. These reports place a particular focus on the connection between terrorist activity and the global narcotics trade. The section on Colombia, while updating readers on the international struggle with that country's drug cartels, also includes an analysis of the political, diplomatic, and economic challenges in intervening there. The Afghanistan portion of the volume shows how the U.S. has tried to confront the heroin trade that has funded the Taliban there, including an example of how the U.S. government has used criminal prosecutions domestically to curb that trade.

From London to Libya, from Istanbul to Iceland, there is great interest among comparative constitutional scholars and practitioners about when a proposed constitution is likely to succeed. But what does it mean for a constitution to succeed? Are there universal criteria of success, and which apply across the board? Or, is the choice of criteria entirely idiosyncratic? This edited volume takes on the idea of constitutional success and shows the manifold ways in which it can be understood. It collects essays from philosophers, political scientists, empiricists and legal scholars, that approach the definition of constitutional success from many different angles. It also brings together case studies from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. By exploring a varied array of constitutional histories, this book shows how complex ideas of constitutional success play out differently in different contexts and provides examples of how success can be differently defined under different circumstances.