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.

Arresting Opposition and Squashing Protests: Democratic Backsliding in Turkey Under Erdoğan

Turkey has been inching towards autocracy under Erdoğan and the AKP for the last 22 years.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that nearly 40% of voters are still undecided on who to vote for. After all, most voters already cast...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The Boston Globe urging readers to “Get ready to protest like democracy depends on it.” The article was in...

Mike Lee: Utah’s Own Disloyal Opposition

May 3, 2023 | University of Utah

A look into Utah state senator Mike Lee and how his direct involvement with the January 6th insurrection is dangerous to American democracy. You don’t have to be a political...

Generational Divide: How US Politicians Cater to Seniors, Leaving Younger Voters Behind

May 3, 2023 | University of Utah

The United States is a country with a rapidly aging population. According to the United States Census Bureau, the percentage of the population aged 65 years or older is...

The Fourth Estate: Democracy, Journalism, and the Social Media Age

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

According to James Carey, "without journalism there is no democracy, but without democracy there is no journalism either.” In other words, the ability of journalism to inform citizens of a...

Conservative Gatekeeping of the United States Supreme Court

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

Right wing, conservative senators are gatekeeping the Supreme Court, in a way that they failed to during the political rise of President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries. [1] Focused...

The Case of Alexei Navalny: A Study in Mutual Tolerance, Non-Political Crimes, and Surveillance

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

At the end of August, while returning from campaigning for local elections in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny fell violently ill....

Takes Two to Tango: How the Democratic Elites Have Fueled Trump’s Fire

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

The 25th amendment, allows for a sitting President’s powers to be suspended if they become unfit for office. Section 4, which can suspend Presidential power without the sitting President’s consent,...

An Attack on Democracy in the Name of Bipartisanship

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

It is clear that increasing partisanship correlates with democratic erosion. Matthew Graham and Milan Svolik, in a candidate-choice experiment, found that US voters who identified with a certain...

Covert Erosion in the Czech Republic

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

Andrej Babiš outwardly does not appear to have the firmest grasp on power in the Czech Republic. The embattled billionaire Prime Minister has faced potential votes of no confidence, an investigation...

The Fight for Democracy in Belarus

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

On August 9, 2020, Belarus held its presidential election. This is the first time in many decades where the current president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been seriously challenged by an opposition...

Icarus from Ipanema: The Fatal Mistake of the Brazilian Left

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

Allying an anti-corruption and anti-communism discourse with a vague desire for change, Jair Messias Bolsonaro won the turbulent 2018 Brazilian presidential election, surpassing movements like...

A Greene-er Democracy

Oct 23, 2020 | University of Chicago

Amongst the constant chaos that has been this year’s election cycle, it’s easy to miss Marjorie Taylor Greene’s primary win. This past August, Greene beat her Republican primary opponent by 15...