Institute for the Study of States of Exception - Under Exception, Issue 05, December 24, 2025
UNDER EXCEPTION
It’s closer than you think.
ISSUE 05
December 24, 2025
Dear Readers,
As we close out the year, we want to thank all of our readers and supporters for helping us stand up the Institute for the Study of States of Exception. What began as an idea has transformed into a growing global team of several dozen colleagues building and driving a vibrant platform for tracking, analyzing, and discussing the expanding use of emergency powers around the world. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain committed to deepening this work and building a community dedicated to strengthening the rule of law. We wish you all a restful holiday season and a healthy, hopeful New Year.
Ed Bogan
Founder, Institute for the Study of States of Exception
ISSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Upcoming Office Hours: The next ISSE Office Hours session will be take place at 1300 Eastern Time on Thursday, January 15, 2026. To join the Office Hours mailing list, sign up at https://www.statesofexception.org/officehours. We will send the Google Meet meeting details to all list members in advance of the meeting. As always, feel free to send any suggestions for Office Hours discussion topics to officehours@statesofexception.org.
GLOBAL EVENTS
El Salvador’s State of Exception—“Inside CECOT”. Constructed as part of an emergency regime repeatedly renewed since March 2022, CECOT, a mega-prison built under El Salvador's prolonged state of exception, illustrates how powers justified as temporary crisis responses can become embedded long-term. A linked piece examines conditions inside the facility, and it further considers the U.S. role in transferring individuals into this system through ordinary immigration authorities, highlighting how emergency effects can be externalized abroad even where no formal emergency has been declared at home.
Lithuania’s Parliament Declares a State of Emergency Amid Hybrid Threat Concerns. On December 9, 2025, Lithuania’s parliament declared a state of emergency in response to reported “hybrid threats,” including sabotage and infrastructure attacks, granting expanded powers such as enhanced policing and heightened surveillance. The declaration highlights how democracies are continuing to turn to exceptional legal frameworks to confront complex security challenges.
The War on “Drug Boats”: How Lethal Maritime Strikes Push the Boundaries of International Law (Global Policy, November 2025). Recent U.S. maritime operations targeting vessels alleged to be carrying narcotics have included lethal strikes at sea, with reports of follow-on attacks against survivors. Jean-Pierre Murray, Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College, examines how these actions strain international legal standards governing the use of force, particularly principles of necessity, proportionality, and civilian protection at sea.
Creating Zones of Lawlessness: Trump, Venezuela, and the Piecemeal Construction of an Authoritarian State (Western States Legal Foundation, December 2025). The Trump administration has expanded a suite of extraordinary measures targeting Venezuela—ranging from sanctions and terror designations to economic and immigration controls—that collectively bypass traditional legal and constitutional processes. The analysis argues these “piecemeal” actions functionally create zones of lawlessness in which executive authority operates with minimal oversight, raising concerns about authoritarian drift and weakened rule of law.
And several additional articles provide updated facts and/or analysis for multiple ongoing storylines, including the ongoing IEEPA tariffs case, and also continued litigation around the declared crime emergency in Washington, DC.
PODCASTS & VIDEOS
ECOWAS: State of emergency declared across West Africa (SABC News, December 2025). On December 9, 2025, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced a regional state of emergency in response to escalating insecurity across several member states. The linked SABC News video reports on the declaration and examines its regional implications, including how coordinated emergency framing may enable governments to expand domestic security powers while blurring lines of accountability across borders.
Are We Losing Our Democracy? (The New York Times, December 2025). The New York Times examines growing concerns over democratic erosion in the U.S. Their multimedia presentation explores how these trends—ranging from contested elections and emergency declarations to shifts in public trust—signal broader challenges to democratic norms and governance.
Using and abusing statutory emergency powers (Chautauqua Institution, July 2024). In this video, Elizabeth Goitein outlines how statutory emergency powers in the United States—especially under laws like the National Emergencies Act and IEEPA—have been invoked and stretched in recent decades. She explains the legal foundations of these authorities, common patterns of executive overreach, and ongoing efforts to reform emergency law to ensure clearer limits and stronger checks on executive action.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The ‘Rachet Effect’: Presidents, Emergency Powers, and the Crisis of Institutional Faith (The Miller Center, September 2025). This piece examines how successive U.S. presidents have increasingly relied on emergency powers, creating a “ratchet effect” in which exceptional authority expands over time and rarely fully recedes. The analysis explores how this pattern erodes public trust in institutions and weakens constitutional checks by normalizing executive discretion in times of crisis.
Ecuador News Round-Up No. 24: Noboa Cracks Down on Protests While Pushing to Rewrite the Constitution (Center for Economic and Policy Research, September 2025). This round-up by Pedro Labayen Herrera details how Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s administration has responded to widespread protests with intensified crackdowns, including forceful police actions and expanded use of state authority. The analysis also highlights the government’s simultaneous push to rewrite the constitution—a move critics say could consolidate executive power and further weaken democratic checks amid ongoing social unrest.
THE BOOKSHELF
The Indian Emergency (1975-1977) in Historical Perspective—from the book When Democracy Breaks (Bose & Jalal, 2024). This book chapter examines India’s 1975–1977 Emergency under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, when constitutional rights were suspended, political opponents were jailed, and censorship and state control expanded dramatically. By placing the period in historical context, the work explores how emergencies can erode democratic norms, reshape political culture, and leave lasting impacts on legal and institutional checks even after formal emergency rule ends.
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