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.

Democratic erosion in Ecuador

Second Blog post On March 6, 2026, Ecuador’s electoral courts ordered the suspension of the country's largest left leaning opposition party, Revolucion Ciudadana (Citizen’s revolution). The party, recognized as the primary opposition of Noboa's right-leaning National...

Pernicious Polarization and the Failure of Resistance in El Salvador

The current state of democracy in El Salvador emphasizes how pernicious polarization destroys the possibility of effective resistance to democratic backsliding, as theorized by McCoy, Rahman, and Somer in "Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy." Bukele's...

How Democracy Erodes: A Comparison between the U.S. and Brazil

Both the United States under President Trump and Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro experienced a period of anti-democratic rhetoric. That led to the decline of significant indicators of stable democratic regimes. Among these indicators are election intimidation, attacks on...

Why The Save Act Misses The Mark

Apr 22, 2026 | Suffolk University

The current administration's push for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act has become yet another polarizing topic between the left and the right. The...

The Election That May Save Hungary’s Democracy

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

"Today we won because the Hungarian people didn't ask what their country could do for them, but what they could do for their country," -Péter Magyar Hungary just held its...

Misinformation: The Role it Plays in the Persistence of the 2020 Election

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

Democratic stability not only relies on fair elections, but on the shared belief of their legitimacy. The controversy surrounding the 2020 United States presidential election demonstrates just how...

Syria’s “transition” Is Creating a New Authoritarianism-Not Democracy.

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

Syria is often referred to as a country in transition. That is deceiving A transition implies progress toward something better—usually democracy. However, Syria's present political trajectory points...

What Peter Magyar’s Win Means for Democracy in Hungary

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

“We have liberated Hungary and have taken back our country,” said Peter Magyar, announcing his landmark victory against strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán’s striking defeat marks a new era...

Democratic Erosion in Bolivia: A Case of Gradual Internal Decline

Apr 21, 2026 | George Mason University

Changes in Bolivia's Democracy V-Dem. (2025). Political regime (Bolivia). Our World in Data. This chart shows the changes in Bolivia’s political regime throughout history. The data indicate that...

Democratic Backsliding: Be Observant

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

Setting the Stage for Autocracy Democratic backsliding is nothing if not the gradual death of democracy. Democracy is eroded through incremental steps taken by the dominant political party to...

Propaganda, The Iran War, and Democratic Erosion

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

The U.S. response to the Iran conflict demonstrates how propaganda and narrative manipulation transform foreign policy into a domestic political tool, contributing to democratic erosion by...

Israel’s Nation-State Law and the Fight Over Belonging

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

Israel’s Nation-State Law and the Fight Over Belonging Every democracy is based on a single premise: equality. That is why Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law matters. In July 2018, the Israeli Knesset...

Can a Democracy Die With 90% Approval?

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University

Every morning, we stop by a cafe and grab an iced Americano. We pay in a hurry, walk away in a hurry, and rarely stop to think about where that coffee came from or how it was made. That’s because...

Is Mexico’s Democracy Slipping?

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities

Is Mexico’s Democracy Slipping? Yehyun Kim Why choose this case for study: Mexico is a fascinating and critical case for this study democratic backsliding....