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.

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

America is suffering from intense affective polarization, and Trump is using this polarization and federal forces to diminish important avenues for horizontal accountability, vertical accountability, and resistance.

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

Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele aims to entrench his executive power through the introduction of indefinite term limits.

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

A record 50-year sentence for Facebook posts in Thailand exposes how Section 112 transforms political expression into criminal offense and accelerates the country’s democratic collapse by shielding royal authority from scrutiny.

Time to Say Au Revoir to Laïcité

Dec 9, 2024 | Brown University

For the past three decades, one article of clothing has captivated the attention of the fashion capital of the world: headscarves. From Marine Le Pen to Emmanuel Macron, no...

The Digital Divide: Social Media’s Role in Polarization and Democratic Backsliding

Dec 5, 2024 | Brown University

It was a week after Donald Trump won the US 2024 Presidential Election. My little sister texted me frantically: “Mom keeps accusing Dad of voting for Trump. She can’t get...

The War in Tigray

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

While the majority of western media continues its focus on the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, a plethora of armed conflicts continue to rage in the global south. One of the more violent of...

The 2022 French Presidential Election: Far-Right Ideals on the Rise

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

The 2022 French Presidential election was controversial for a variety of reasons, the largest being the fact that a far-right populist managed to reach the final stages. Marie Le Pen and her...

Banning Opposition and Democratic Backsliding in Turkey

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

Throughout recent years, Turkey has shown many characteristics of democratic backsliding under the leadership of President Erdogan and his party, the Justice and Development Party. One of the key...

Why Are We So Obsessed with Democracy?

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

Being a student of political science, I have managed to consume a lot of knowledge and information about the United States democracy and its principles. Throughout my studies, I have always come to...

White Anxiety Helped Trump to Enter the White House

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

Census projects that the US will become predominantly non-white around the year of 2045. What some people consider as a story of success, might be seen as a substantial sociocultural threat from...

No Civil Society, No Democracy

Apr 27, 2022 | University of Georgia

Civil society plays an integral part in all democracies, especially in building and strengthening democracy. First, what is civil society? Resounding sociologist Larry Diamond, defines civil society...

An Important Midterm Cycle for Democracy

Apr 26, 2022 | University of Georgia

By Thomas Charyton A democracy can only really work if people believe in it. The nation’s faith in its institutions had not faced a threat quite like that which was the Trump presidency. Using...

Rohingya Path to Freedom is Myanmar’s Path to Democracy

Apr 26, 2022 | University of Georgia

Julia O’Neal Genocide and democracy cannot coexist. How did the Rohingya Muslims become one of the largest stateless populations in the world? The answer is intertwined with the struggles with...

Kazakh Resource Nationalism: Ex-Soviet Corruption and Dysfunction

Apr 26, 2022 | University of Georgia

Kazakh Resource Nationalism Post-Soviet states specialize in resource nationalism. Kazakhstan is one of the most resource rich countries in the world, and it is also a very politically corrupt...