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...

Environmental Fragility & Political Instability: Climate Change as a Driver of Democratic Backsliding

Oct 30, 2025 | University of Georgia

Jane Goodall died on Wednesday, October 1st. Her work was incredibly powerful and reached many, authoring 32 books, earning a laundry list of internationally recognized...

How Trump’s 20-Point Plan risks deepening Democratic Erosion in Israel and Palestine

Oct 29, 2025 | University of Georgia

When politicians promise “peace”, they usually mean silence, not democracy. On nearly the anniversary of Hamas’s deadly terrorist attack on Israel from October 7, 2023,...

No-Knock Warrants, Police Power, and Democratic Backsliding

Mar 13, 2022 | University of Georgia

Discussions of police violence in American cities have led to the introduction of some troubling policy changes since the initial surge of protests in the summer of 2020. Rather than addressing the...

Are We Headed for WW3? Implications for Democracy

Mar 11, 2022 | University of Georgia

As of February of 2022, continually growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine have gathered global attention. Despite preemptive economic punishments from the international community, Russia...

Democracy – The Cost of Rwanda’s Recovery?

Mar 11, 2022 | University of Chicago

Paul Kagame’s presidency has been plagued with accusations of election rigging, suppression of free speech, and unjustified imprisonment of political opponents from the very beginning. Succeeding...

Stealth Authoritarianism and the UK Police and Crime Bill

Mar 10, 2022 | Brown University

The UK’s new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill threatens the British public’s freedom of expression, assembly, and right to protest. Among other things, the proposed bill introduces...

The Power of a “Small, Fringe Minority”

Mar 9, 2022 | University of Georgia

The past couple of years have seen some questionable encroachments on the civil liberties that ensure democracy, in an effort by governments to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. From an...

The Fall of Independent Journalism in Azerbaijan

Mar 8, 2022 | Ohio State University

The Azerbaijanian government has continued to silence its own journalists. It has made conscious efforts recently to forcefully stop protests regarding freedom of speech and the wrongful...

Watchdog Journalist’s Arrest Example of Free Press Collapsing in Bangladesh

Mar 8, 2022 | Ohio State University

In May 2021, an anti-corruption journalist for the largest newspaper in Bangladesh spent a month investigating government mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis before she sat down to have a meeting...

Bhutan: A Young and Fragile Democracy Faces Barriers to Growth

Mar 8, 2022 | Ohio State University

The predominately Buddhist nation of Bhutan remains the subject of international interest as an isolated ecological haven and an area of promise for democracy. Recent years have seen increases in...

When History Repeats Itself

Mar 8, 2022 | Ohio State University

An all too familiar threat to democracy in the Philippines (Not so) Democratic History Democracy in the Philippines was nothing more than an ideal for the vast majority of the country’s history....