Election Interference: International Law and the Future of Democracy

Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election produced the biggest political scandal in a generation, marking the beginning of an ongoing attack on democracy. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Russia was found to have engaged in more “information operations,” a practice that has been increasingly adopted by other countries. In Election Interference, Jens David Ohlin makes the case that these operations violate international law, not as a cyberwar or a violation of sovereignty, but as a profound assault on democratic values protected by the international legal order under the rubric of self-determination. He argues that, in order to confront this new threat to democracy, countries must prohibit outsiders from participating in elections, enhance transparency on social media platforms, and punish domestic actors who solicit foreign interference. This important book should be read by anyone interested in protecting election integrity in our age of social media disinformation.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. What is election interference?; 2. Election interference is not cyberwar; 3. Limits of the sovereignty framework; 4. The promise of self-determination; 5. Foreign electioneering and transparency; 6. Free speech and elections; 7. The value of criminal prosecutions; 8. Soliciting foreign interference; Conclusion.

About the Author :
Jens David Ohlin is Vice Dean and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School. His work stands at the intersection of three related fields: criminal law and procedure, international law, and the laws of war. Trained as both a lawyer and a philosopher, Professor Ohlin has tackled diverse research questions that include the philosophical foundations of international law, collective criminal action, and the role of new technologies in war. He is the author of leading textbooks in international law and criminal law.

Review :
'Jens David Ohlin has written a terrific, highly policy-relevant book about the extraordinary harm of election interference. Against the background of Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, Ohlin skillfully unpacks the logic of foreign electioneering, explicating in fascinating detail how, and when, foreign electioneering matters, and why it is deserving of international legal reprobation. An essential primer on a pernicious form of lawfare, Election Interference is a pioneering book.' Jens Meierhenrich, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and the author of Lawfare: A Genealogy 'This extraordinary book confronts the greatest menace to democracy in our digitally networked age: the rise of international election interference. With unparalleled lucidity, Jens Ohlin explains how foreign meddling in elections violates international law, and he prescribes sensible reforms to safeguard democratic institutions without compromising cherished civil liberties. This bravura performance will dazzle international legal theorists and should be required reading for policymakers in the United States and around the world.' Evan J. Criddle, Ernest W. Goodrich Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School 'We are only beginning as international lawyers to assess the toxicity of election interference. With a knack for intrigue and a keen sense of the limitlessness of cyberspace, Jens Ohlin deftly takes readers through some of the normative dilemmas. In the process, he wrong-foots the discipline's instinct to invoke sovereignty by suggesting the much more challenging possibility that what is at stake is really a violation of the right to self-determination. He thus manages the double feat of both informing our thinking about one of the central challenges of the day and breathing new normative life into a dusty old pillar of international law. A true invitation to use international legal crises to reinvent what it means to do international law!' Frédéric Mégret, Professor of Law and William Dawson Scholar, McGill University '… a thought-provoking and readable account of the legal issues surrounding contemporary election interference.' Daniela Donno, Perspectives on Politics