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.

You Can’t Sit with Us: The Practice of Democratic Gatekeeping and How It Has Saved Democracies

At the 11th hour of the 2024 election many Republican politicians and members of congress took a stance against Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Through the “Republicans for Harris” tagline, they urged their supporters through various forms of appeals to vote...

The Erosion of an Already Weak Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Jovenel Moïse

Jovenel Moïse's presidency marked a dangerous shift from Haiti's already shaky democracy to overt authoritarianism. Delayed elections, unchecked abuse of executive power, and violent suppression of resistance became the norm. By the time of his assassination in 2021,...

Undermining the Feedback Loop: How Trump’s Educational Policies Hinder Democratic Accountability

In a larger trend of censoring opinions which the Trump administration views as undesirable, the Trump administration’s actions towards schools and universities has a negative impact on democracy as a whole. Such a system depends on the free transmission of...

Donald Trump and Democratic Backsliding: The Threat of a Populist and More Polarized America

Apr 13, 2024 | William Jewell College

As the 2024 Presidential election comes close, many of us are asking the same fearful questions: if Donald Trump finds his way to power again, will this ultimately...

Electronic Voting Poses a New Threat to Russia’s Compromised Election Integrity

Oct 14, 2021 | University of Georgia

2021 Election Summary In September 2021, Russia held a three-day parliamentary election. The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Ella Pamfilova, announced...

How America’s Nation Building Efforts Around the World Is a Downfall for Democracy

Oct 14, 2021 | University of Georgia

How It All Started In the latter part of 2001, The United States went into Afghanistan to overtake the Taliban government in attempts to go after Al-Qaeda after the September 11th attacks . This is...

Democratic Backsliding: The Spanish and Venezuelan Example

Oct 14, 2021 | University of Georgia

The 20th century has shown us that there are many reasons for democracies to experience backsliding. Many of the reasons for backsliding are preventable, yet they still happen. The results of...

Media: The Catalyst Behind Erosive Polarization

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

While there is hope for America’s future as a democracy, there are serious democratic backsliding issues at the present moment. Increased polarization is widely accepted as a pre-cursor to this...

The Effect of Vaccine Mandates on American Democracy

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

The recent introduction of vaccine mandates to states and workplaces across the United States has only served to further the political polarization in the country, pushing it into the direction of...

Alexander Lukashenko: Architect of Democratic Erosion in Belarus

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

Elected in 1994, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has consolidated an alarmingly substantial amount of power using Belarus’ democratic institutions to undermine his political opponents and...

Belarus: The 2020 Presidential Election and Democratic Decline

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

In recent years, the Republic of Belarus has become a pertinent example of democratic backsliding in Eastern Europe. Nowhere was this clearer than during the 2020 Belarusian presidential election...

Should Foreign Governments Intervene to “Protect” and “Promote” Democracy? If So, When?

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

Should foreign governments intervene to "protect" and "promote" democracy? If so, when? A big idea behind promoting democracy is “Liberal Democratic Peace Theory”. "Liberal Democratic...

Stealth Authoritarianism in Hungary

Oct 13, 2021 | University of Georgia

Stealth authoritarianism, as explained by Ozan Varol, is a relatively new concept in international affairs discourse (Varol 2015). Before the cold war authoritarianism was obvious; few efforts were...