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.

In Illinois, Donors Narrowed Democracy… Again

The 2026 primaries in Illinois depict how large-scale outside spending legally reshapes candidate viability at the nomination stage, narrowing democratic choice without altering the formal mechanics of voting.

What a shrunken Congress means for democracy in America

Congress has shirked its constitutional duty to stand up to the presidency. This has dire consequences for our democracy.

Where are our Leaders of ’16? The Need for a New Sovereign Republic

Is the UK eroding Northern Irelands democracy?

The JFK Files: Make America Paranoid Again

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

Donald Trump recently released 80,000 CIA files on the JFK assassination and the following investigation. These files were released to some degree in 2017, as was mandated...

The Brandmauer and its Recent Deterioration

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

Firewalls and regional equivalents to it have recently come under heavy strain as nationalist far-right parties have found themselves relative electoral success in the past...

Democratic Resilience

May 20, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

Our country is divided, we all know that, and there have been lies spread throughout the land. Lies of a stolen election perpetrated by a desperate political operator who felt his power slipping...

Populism and Political Systems

May 20, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

In the past few years, the tendency of populism has been increasing worldwide. Many state leaders are reckoned as populist due to their proposals on policies, such as the former President of the...

Will Castillo’s Proposed Referendum Fix Peru’s Democratic Erosion?

May 17, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

In June 2021, Pedro Castillo, a self proclaimed leftist populist, was elected as the president of Peru. With his victory over Keiko Fujimori a right wing populist only coming by 40,000 votes it...

Elon Musk’s Acquisition of Twitter: The Privatization of Social Media

May 17, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

Twitter, the social media platform that has been publicly traded since 2013, is expected to come under private ownership once again. This news comes with Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer to acquire the...

The Crumbling Institutional Pillars of the US Supreme Court

May 17, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

The recent leak of the initial majority draft opinion on Roe v. Wade has many implications of democratic erosion. The significance of this occurrence goes beyond the potential overturning of this...

Department of Homeland Security Announces New Disinformation Board

May 17, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

On April 27, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had formed a new board focused on combating disinformation. The board will be headed by Nina Jankowicz, a Wilson Center...

Rise of Erdogan and Democratic Erosion in Turkey

May 17, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Turkey was once the beacon of democratic liberalism in the East, outside of the Western powers. However, under its current leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party, Justice and Development...

Myanmar 2020 Election Fraud

May 17, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Since gaining independence from British Rule, Myanmar, then known as Burma, experienced years of civil unrest between various ethnic groups. Just within 8 months after independence, the country was...

Continued Conflict in Ukraine

May 16, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Continued Conflict in Ukraine As of late April, Ukraine has now been subject to this most recent military occupation by Russia for about two months. Under President Vladimir Putin, the Russian...