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...

Buying Injustice: The Hidden Harms of this Act.

Are we looking to create a thriving society, or are we allowing fear into the lives of immigrant families? As new immigration policies appear, the question become, how do we prevent the changes that involve separating families and dismantling the place that...

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

Dec 10, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

On July 31st, 2025, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed a new constitutional amendment 57 to three votes to allow the current president, Nayib Bukele, to run for a...

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

Dec 9, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

In January 2025, a 30-year-old man from Chiang Rai, Thailand, Mongkol Thirakot, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being accused of posting 27 Facebook posts related...

Roe v. Wade and Its Reaction in a Populist Political Climate

May 5, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

The Supreme Court decision that was leaked to the public containing the controversial opinion to strike down the decisions made in Roe V. Wade has caused a stir amongst political members. While mass...

Fear and Loathing in Tucker Carlson Tonight: How the Fox News Host Builds on the Emotions of the American Right

May 4, 2022 | Brown University

The rise of former U.S. President Donald Trump spawned a veritable cottage industry of books purported to offer confused Trump opponents insight into what his supporters were thinking. The New York...

Producing the Monopoly of Violence: Police Unions and Democracy

May 4, 2022 | Brown University

Unions are designed to create power, using a variety of tools that can only be achieved with collective action: the threat of strikes, lawsuits, bad press, boycotts, etc. Police unions function...

Donald Trump, Pro Wrestling, and the Future of American Politics

May 4, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

It's a head game. When you know you're faking and the audience knows you're faking and you know the audience knows you know you're faking because the fact that pro wrestling is fake has been...

A President Turns His Back on Democracy

May 4, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

Strong democratic institutions were not created from the standpoint of governments being comprised of moral representatives focused on only the collective good. If our elected officials were always...

Voting with the Head or the Heart? Empathy as a Tool to Promote Discourse

May 3, 2022 | Brown University

American politics has entered what is likely the most polarized era in its history (1). According to Pew Research’s studies, about 85% of Americans feel that in recent times, political discourse in...

New Problems Call for New Solutions: A Case for Democratizing Big Tech

May 3, 2022 | Brown University

In a previous article, I examined the effects of changes to Facebook’s News Feed algorithm to prioritize “Meaningful Social Interactions” (MSI), drawing broad conclusions about both the potential...

Constitutional Mayhem: Democratic Erosion at Brown University

May 3, 2022 | Brown University

When one thinks of democratic institutions and voting procedures it is often within the context of national and local governance. In other words, the societal apparatuses in place that allow...

Armenian Genocide Denial: A Symptom of Democratic Erosion

May 2, 2022 | Brown University

In April 2021, President Biden became the first U.S. President to refer to the systematic killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as a genocide, after years of Armenian Americans,...