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 blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

The Illusion of Elections: How Authoritarian Power Undermines Democratic Legitimacy in Myanmar

This blog examines how elections in Myanmar, stripped of genuine competition, political freedoms, and popular consent, have failed to protect democracy and instead become instruments of authoritarian rule.

Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law and Quiet Death of Democratic Accountability

Georgia’s 2024 foreign agents law uses the language of transparency to legally constrain civil society, tilt electoral competition towards the incumbent Georgian Dream Party, and accelerate democratic backsliding despite domestic and international opposition.

The Boiling Point of Election Violence: Democratic Erosion in Tanzania

Once hailed for its relative stability in an otherwise politically volatile East Africa, Tanzania has exploded into violence and political protest following the controversial reelection of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Trying to Revive democracy in Honduras by Neil O’Donnell

Apr 29, 2024 | Ursinus College

Trying to Revive democracy in Honduras Honduras has been a Democracy that has been struggling for a very long time with multiple aspects of society and Government. We have...

Do Americans’ views on identity increase the risk of democratic erosion in the United States?

Apr 26, 2024 | William Jewell College

“Our democracy is at stake” might as well become the official tagline for all U.S. elections. The threats of authoritarianism and democratic erosion seem to always be...

The Practical Power of the Secret Police in Democratic Erosion

Dec 13, 2020 | Sabanci University

Erosions of democracy under authoritarian rulers happen through numerous channels, with an important channel being institutions. Institutions structuralize governance according to the vision of the...

The Right Way of Combatting Democratic Erosion

Dec 13, 2020 | Sabanci University

DEVA | How to fight against a Populist. Deva is a newly formed organization lead by Ali Babacan. A well-experienced politician but also can be defined as a Technocrat who was formerly a Founding...

Moon Jae-In’s Attack on Democracy in South Korea

Dec 12, 2020 | Georgia State University, Georgia State University Perimeter College

Among experts, the notion of democratic backsliding sounds many alarms, given events taking place in South Korea’s current government. As the country gradually phases out the previous authoritarian...

The Fall of Democracy

Dec 11, 2020 | Georgia State University, Georgia State University Perimeter College

Democracy is an ideology that has long endured dating back since the B.C. era and even though it has existed for a long period of time not everyone has had the chance to experience democracy. In...

Democracy and Democratic Erosion in Brazil

Dec 11, 2020 | Georgia State University, Georgia State University Perimeter College

Although a Democracy is a well-structured form of government it’s not always the best system for all countries. Some countries...

Israel and the U.S.

Dec 11, 2020 | Georgia State University

For a long time now, the world has kept up with the democratic backsliding happening in Israel. Now the United States is following in their footsteps. Not only are the people of Israel in an ongoing...

Populism and Democratic Erosion of Italy

Dec 11, 2020 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

Populism is on the rise in many democratic countries globally including many European countries, such as Italy. Democracies of the Cold War era often went by the way of military coups. There are...

Threats from the Arctic

Dec 11, 2020 | Suffolk University

USCGC Polar Sea at Iceberg B-15A on Jan. 29, 2001 (wikimedia; NSF/Josh Landis )USCGC Polar Star backs and rams through dense ice off the Antarctic coast, Jan. 15, 2017. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by...

The Largest Democracy on the brink of becoming an Authoritarian regime: India’s Democratice Erosion.

Dec 11, 2020 | Georgia State University, Georgia State University Perimeter College

BY Cindy Martinez India currently has one of the largest populations, with over 1.3 billion citizens. The country has over 900 million registered voters, making India the largest democracy. However,...