by Eunseo Park | Oct 17, 2026 | George Mason University
When Democracy Uses Its Own Institutions: How Venezuela Eroded from Within Venezuela’s democratic erosion unfolded in stages: distrust of established parties opened the door to Hugo Chávez; later reforms strengthened the presidency; and under Nicolás Maduro,...
by Gayoung Park | Oct 17, 2026 | George Mason University
How Democracy Dies Silently Without Brute Force It is rare for a dictator to seize a nation overnight through brute force. Instead, democracies often break down very quietly. Elections are still held, courts remain open, and the constitution is still there, but it all...
by Keunhyung Kim | Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University
Economic Crisis, Public Misjudgment, and Institutional Destruction Historically, when a national economy faces a serious crisis, the citizens often choose populist slogans for the reason of overcoming the crisis, making a critical mistake to voluntarily destroy the...
by Jaemin Noh | Apr 20, 2026 | American University, Universities
What do you do when your own country tries to fool you? If elections are the heart of democracy, then Venezuela should be heartless. It still holds elections. People still line up to vote. Politicians still campaign. On paper, the system has not disappeared. But that...
by Chanul Baek | Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities
Democracies do not usually collapse in some dramatic moments. There is no single night where everything suddenly falls. Most of time, they fade slowly and almost silently until the day they are not really democracies anymore. That is what happened in Venezuela....
