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.

Arresting Opposition and Squashing Protests: Democratic Backsliding in Turkey Under Erdoğan

Turkey has been inching towards autocracy under Erdoğan and the AKP for the last 22 years.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that nearly 40% of voters are still undecided on who to vote for. After all, most voters already cast...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The Boston Globe urging readers to “Get ready to protest like democracy depends on it.” The article was in...

Orbán and Trump: Faces of Dying Democracies.

Apr 19, 2024 | Ursinus College

Donald Trump has been compared to a lot throughout his mediocre rise into politics. Even during the infancy of his 2016 election, Trump was being compared to dictators,...

Brazil’s Political Maze: Navigating Turbulence and Corruption

Apr 19, 2024 | Ursinus College

In recent years, Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has found himself under heightened scrutiny due to ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption....

The Delegitimization of Journalists and the News Media in the United States

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

The proliferation of disbelief in the news media in the United States has caused our democracy to erode right before our eyes. We have all heard the term “fake news” before. We know that certain...

Midterm Elections for Statewide Election Officials Could Spell Trouble for 2024

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

In the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential election and President Trump’s attempt to subvert its results, there has been an increased focus on the oft overlooked statewide position of secretary of...

Spot the Difference and Other Games Georgia Voters Find Themselves Playing Ahead of Critical Elections

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

In the summer of 2021, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed into law a series of voting restrictions destined to impact citizen turnout in all upcoming state and federal elections. This legislation...

Does Gerrymandering Present a Lasting Threat to Democracy?

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

While the United States advertises itself as a representative democracy, many voters question the degree to which the United States achieves the democratic ideals of this system. At the forefront of...

Brought to Limelight: How the Pandemic Increased Democratic Backsliding in the USA

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

Democracy was already backsiding in many countries before the pandemic, and the United States is no exception. However, the pandemic brought forth already existing problems from its polarizing...

Voting Rights Reforms Killed in Senate

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

Joe Biden’s first year in office, with respect to his domestic efforts, can be characterized by its unshakable partisan gridlock. This is certainly not a new feature of the modern American...

The Big Lie Is About to Score a Big Steal: The 2024 Presidential Election

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

It has been over a year since this image was burned into the minds of Americans. Many remember the revolting pictures of flames and smoke looming over the Capitol on the evening of January 6th,...

“Election Integrity” in Arizona: How Proposed Legislation Would Threaten Democracy

Feb 14, 2022 | Ohio State University

Following the 2020 election, Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country have pushed for restrictive voting measures and other changes to the electoral process. Proponents of these...

Bye-Bye Bipartisanship: The End of Toleration in the Republican Party

Feb 14, 2022 | Boston University

On February 4th, 2022 U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) were formally censured by the Republican National Committee for their involvement with the Democrat-led House...