Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

Students enrolled in our course are encouraged to write for the course blog, and to read and comment on posts from students at other participating universities. The blog offers students the opportunity to analyze current events through the lens of the theory and case studies they engage with through the course.

These blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

The Illusion of Elections: How Authoritarian Power Undermines Democratic Legitimacy in Myanmar

This blog examines how elections in Myanmar, stripped of genuine competition, political freedoms, and popular consent, have failed to protect democracy and instead become instruments of authoritarian rule.

Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law and Quiet Death of Democratic Accountability

Georgia’s 2024 foreign agents law uses the language of transparency to legally constrain civil society, tilt electoral competition towards the incumbent Georgian Dream Party, and accelerate democratic backsliding despite domestic and international opposition.

The Boiling Point of Election Violence: Democratic Erosion in Tanzania

Once hailed for its relative stability in an otherwise politically volatile East Africa, Tanzania has exploded into violence and political protest following the controversial reelection of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Amnesty for Atrocities: Peru’s Democratic Backsliding in the Shadow of Fujimori

Dec 18, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

On August 13 2025, recently impeached Peruvian President Dina Boluarte signed bill No. 366 of 2023 into law, which provided amnesty to those who committed crimes against...

What the Madhesi Movement Reveals About Nepal’s Democratic Erosion

Dec 17, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

Nepal’s Madhesi community lives in the Tarai plains along the southern border, a region culturally intertwined with northern India. Madhesis speak Maithili, Bhojpuri,...

Namibia’s Troubling Drift Toward Democratic Erosion

Dec 16, 2025 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

Namibia’s 2024 general election marks a significant moment of democratic backsliding, not through overt electoral manipulation, but through systemic administrative failures and executive efforts to...

Will Protests in Morocco Lead to Meaningful Change?

Dec 16, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

Moroccan youth have taken to the streets in protests demanding lower healthcare costs, the right to protest, and other reforms including decreased sports expenditures. The protests have been met...

Dina Boluarte and Democratic Backsliding in Peru

Dec 16, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

Figure 1 Ui-martin September, 2025 With the murder of over 50 protestors in three years, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has demonstrated her willingness to suppress opposition. Her actions in Peru...

Democratic Erosion: India and the U.S.

Dec 15, 2025 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

Democratic Erosion in the United States and India Intro From 2024-2025, India’s democratic erosion is deeper because of opaque party finance, and because pressures on civil society have made...

Buying Power: Oligarchy and Clientelism in Georgia

Dec 15, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

In 2003, Georgia had a democratic breakthrough. The Rose Revolution ousted the remnants of the state socialist regime and transitioned Georgia into a burgeoning democracy. At the time, the country...

TUNISIA’S AUTHORITARIAN TURN: How President Kais Saied Is Dismantling the Arab Spring’s Only Democracy

Dec 12, 2025 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

When Tunisia's citizens overthrew their dictator in 2011, the world hailed Tunisia's emergence from this uprising as the only country to become a true democracy. For several years, Tunisia served as...

How Trump and his federal forces are using America’s polarization problem to dismantle American democracy

Dec 11, 2025 | Northeastern University

America’s two-party system is seeing one of its largest divides in American history. Belonging to one party or the other can be an immediate reason for hatred of another, and both parties are...

Indefinite Term Limits: How Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is Further Entrenching His Power

Dec 10, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

On July 31st, 2025, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed a new constitutional amendment 57 to three votes to allow the current president, Nayib Bukele, to run for a third term. The amendment...

A 50-Year Sentence for Facebook Posts: The Implications of Section 112

Dec 9, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

In January 2025, a 30-year-old man from Chiang Rai, Thailand, Mongkol Thirakot, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being accused of posting 27 Facebook posts related to Thailand’s monarchy....