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 are student blog posts written by student participants in the Democratic Erosion Course. These posts were not written by nor represent the views of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

Food Security is Rooted Abroad

Global fertilizer supply chains connect geopolitical events abroad to food production at home in ways most consumers don’t see.

The Meaning of Silence : What the moment of silence for Melissa Hortman says about American democracy

On June 14, 2025, the lives of Melissa Hortman who was a House speaker in Minnesota and her husband Mark were taken in what authorities believe to be a politically motivated act of violence. The same day Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and...

The New Future of Warfare? How Social Media is Inflating Tensions Between the U.S. and Iran.

Social media is moving to the forefront of the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with political elites from both sides of the conflict using social media as a weapon to fabricate narratives and generate AI videos to publicly denounce the actions of one...

How Hybrid Regimes Erode Democracies: The Philippines

Feb 13, 2026 | Boston University

The current state of democracy in the Philippines demonstrates how hybrid regimes develop through executive power expansion, legal system manipulation, and attacks on...

The Ongoing Battle of Electoral Legitimacy in the United States

https://democratic-erosion.org/2026/02/13/the-ongoing-battle-of-electoral-legitimacy-in-the-united-states/

Feb 13, 2026 | Boston University, Uncategorized

Americans have seen changing tides in the last ten years, marked by what many call a rise of a populist, a global pandemic, changes in mutual tolerance and forbearance of...

How Democrats Undercut Biden’s September 1 Speech

Oct 17, 2022 | Boston University

As midterm election season began in September this year, President Biden gave a speech that strove to unite the rest of the country against Trump and MAGA Republicans, and to disavow political...

Exchanges of Stealth Authoritarianism Abroad: 2022 UK Elections Act

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

The US has for years used gerrymandering, felony disenfranchisement, voter ID, and many other measures to suppress the vote. Through these measures, US conservatives not only can influence the...

Populism Is a Problem. More Democracy Is Not the Solution.

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

Trump’s brand of populism created the single most politically spectacular event in the US’s history, when the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021 to prevent the formalization of Joe...

La Guerra Contra Las Pandillas Asegura El Lugar Del Autoritario Presidente Bukele En Los Corazónes Salvadoreño (The War Against the Gangs Secures the Authoritarian President Bukele’s Place in the Hearts of the Salvadorans)

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

Salvadorean presidential candidate Nayib Bukele, of the Great National Alliance (GANA), speaks during the closing rally of his campaign in San Salvador, on January 26, 2019 ahead of the first round...

Rising Populism in Britain Regarding Brexit

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

According to Jan-Werner Müller, the idea of Populism can be identified as an impossibleconcept as there are a multitude of differentiating viewpoints of what populism constitutes. Inrecent times,...

Voter Suppression in Georgia is Destroying America’s Civic Culture

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

One of the surprises of the tumultuous 2020 Presidential Election was Georgia, a traditionally Republican state, turning blue in favor of Joe Biden. Biden would go on to win the election, and his...

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

MAGA Republicans failed in 2020, but efforts are underway to make sure 2024 is a different story. November 7, 2020. Joseph Biden is determined by major news networks to be the 46th president...

The Inequalities and Injustices Immigrants Face

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Immigrants and their supporters rally outside of the Varick Street Federal Immigration Court during a protest against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)...

Democracy Dies in Darkness: What Brazil’s Election Tells Us

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

On October 2nd, Brazilian voters participated in the first round of General Elections. Amidst fears that far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro may stage an autogolpe if the results are not what he’s...