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.

Donald Trump the Nazi Reincarnate?: Godwin’s Law and How This Phenomenon is Counterproductive to Understanding Democratic Erosion

What do we hope to accomplish when comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, a tyrannical perpetrator of genocide?

The Russia-Ukraine War Bodes Poorly for Democracy, But Not in the Way You Think

The Russia-Ukraine War is a serious threat to global democracy through the growing wave of isolationism in the United States, an entity that has typically been at the forefront of fighting authoritarianism across the world.

The Trump Administration’s Attack on USAID

The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID, increase concerns about democratic backsliding as it could result in a trend with the executive undermining institutional legitimacy.

The Creche Controversy in Turkey

Feb 3, 2025 | Sabanci University

Turkey has been governed under a competitive authoritarian regime for almost a decade. The incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) has held power for the last 22...

Between Tutelary Democracy and Populism: 2022-2023 Pakistani Political Crisis and 2024 General Election

Feb 1, 2025 | Sabanci University

The portrait of Imran Khan, carried by the supporters of the PTI. [Shahzaib Akber/EPA] Background Pakistan, along with Turkey (until the 2010s) and Thailand, is often viewed...

Expanded Inclusion, Weakened Representation: The Partylist System Decline and Philippine Democratic Erosion

May 24, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

The Philippine partylist system in 2024, based on current composition alone, is a far cry from its incarnation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In place of having Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, and...

The Pink Movement: Restoring or Polarizing Democracy in the Philippines?

May 23, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Antecedent to Leni Robredo’s declaration of her presidential candidacy in the 2022 Philippine elections, a vibrant pink becomes a beacon of hope initiating a people-led movement that soon rallied...

Slippery Slope Road of Constitutional Change: The Potential Damage to Philippine Democracy

May 23, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Who would have thought that the term ‘change’ could undermine streamlining the bureaucratic process by growing the political division and recurring issues in Philippine politics? With the effects of...

Bridging the Moral Chasm: Understanding the Increasing Polarization in the Philippines

May 23, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Dubbed by analysts as the “most significant election in the Southeast Asian nation’s recent history”, the last 2022 national elections was the most polarized and most participated with a voter...

Tyranny? You mean, Unity?: The Fateful Alliance of the Marcos-Duterte Clans in the Philippines

May 23, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

“Bagong Pilipinas, Bagong Mukha!”, (trans: New Philippines, New Face) the battle cry of the 2022 Marcos-Duterte campaign jingle echoed throughout the nation as the resurging Marcoses and the...

All the Web’s a Stage: New Media, Micro-Celebrities, and Fake News in the Philippines

May 21, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

“Celebrity” in Philippine politics can manifest in more ways than one. Most notoriously, celebrity makes itself evident when film and television stars participate in politics as candidates during...

Political Attitudes, Polarization, and Their Consequences in the United States

May 10, 2024 | William Jewell College

The United States has been facing political polarization since the early 1970s - but the uprise of technology, media, and freedom of expression has demonstrated how a dramatic shift in political...

A 2024 Rematch: Will it be the Authoritarian or the Genocide-Enabler?

May 10, 2024 | American University

With the grim results of Super Tuesday, we face the catastrophic choice between Trump, espousing authoritarian ideology, and Biden, a now genocide-enabler. “Democracies don’t fall apart — they’re...

Democracy in Decay:

May 8, 2024 | American University

Analyzing Democratic Backsliding in Narendra Modi’s India India is one of the world's most diverse and populated nations, with a revolutionary past and a promising future of endless development,...