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.

Can Politicians Hear Americans’ Disapproval Over the Hum of Data Centers?

In early September, an AI researcher at Anthropic resigned due to his belief that his leadership and colleagues were pursuing AI development in a dangerous and reckless manner. Following the growing number of whistleblowers sounding the alarm on what’s going on in the...
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Submarine Policy in an Era of Polarization

Introduction At a time when American politics experiences extreme partisan divide, one area of policy still looks surprisingly cooperative. On July 29th, 2026, the United States Navy announced $76.6 billion in contracts for the construction of Columbia- and...
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Constitutional Hardball and the Politics of Mail Voting

Trump's March 2026 executive order on mail voting is best understood as constitutional hardball, in Levitsky and Ziblatt's sense, rather than as ordinary election-security policy. It is dangerous because it moves control over who may receive a ballot from the states...
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