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.

The Erosion of an Already Weak Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Jovenel Moïse

Jovenel Moïse's presidency marked a dangerous shift from Haiti's already shaky democracy to overt authoritarianism. Delayed elections, unchecked abuse of executive power, and violent suppression of resistance became the norm. By the time of his assassination in 2021,...

Undermining the Feedback Loop: How Trump’s Educational Policies Hinder Democratic Accountability

In a larger trend of censoring opinions which the Trump administration views as undesirable, the Trump administration’s actions towards schools and universities has a negative impact on democracy as a whole. Such a system depends on the free transmission of...

Democracy Six Feet Under: How Disinformation is Burying Philippine Democracy Alive

Philippine democracy is in great danger once again now that the two families who benefited the most from disinformation – the Marcoses and Dutertes, are in power and have turned against one another. As both camps sling disinformation against each other, the...

American Democracy and The Supreme Court

Oct 17, 2023 | Boston University

With recent discussion in the news surrounding the potential adoption of an “ethics code” or other code of conduct for the US Supreme Court, the question of its role in US...

Guatemalan mass protests question if populism is all bad

Oct 17, 2023 | Boston University

On October 2nd, mass citizen protests erupted in Guatemala related to Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras’s efforts to undermine the results of the country’s recent...

Sacrificing Truth at the Altar of Power

Nov 17, 2020 | University of Chicago

Even though the 2020 Presidential Election was called on November 14th, escaping election news seems impossible. The last week has seen Trump's legal team file a plethora of lawsuits over supposed...

Democratic Erosion in India: Modi Leads the Country Into a More Polarized Society

Nov 16, 2020 | University of Chicago

Narendra Modi’s time as Prime Minister of India has been watched closely by the world as escalations have heightened with Pakistan in recent years. Modi has enacted many policies and actions that...

Voter Suppression: How it Still Exists 100 Years After the Passing of the 19th Amendment

Nov 16, 2020 | Suffolk University

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/opinion/texas-voter-suppression.html Civic Engagement I joined the JFK library's conference about the 19th Amendment and voting rights today. This conference was...

Pork Barrel Spending: How an Anti-corruption Measure Heightens Polarization and Threatens American Democracy

Nov 16, 2020 | University of Chicago

While ostensibly a positive effort against corruption, the voluntary banning of pork-barrel spending has contributed to the erosion of American democracy by encouraging hyperpolarization on the...

Lessons Learned in Brussels: What Hungary’s Democratic Erosion Tells Us About the European Union’s Leverage

Nov 16, 2020 | University of Chicago

Incentives are everything. Since its founding in 1993, the European Union (EU) has understood this and become a master of soft power pressure and incentive-based democratic reforms. Indeed, as much...

A Cause To Celebrate?

Nov 15, 2020 | Suffolk University

This past week, The United States underwent one of the most tense elections in our history. The probability of violence with the victory of either candidate was strong. Cities all across the country...

Returned From Exile: Evo Morales Once Again Poses a Threat to Bolivian Democracy

Nov 15, 2020 | University of Chicago

(AP Photo/Juan Karita) After nearly a year in exile, former President Evo Morales returned to Bolivia on November 9th to a crowd of adoring fans at the Argentinian border. In spite of his...

Enabling Democratic Erosion: How Polish Government Polarized the Society

Nov 14, 2020 | University of Chicago

Scholars of political science who study the phenomenon of democratic erosion often analyze the relationship of it with polarization. While there is no academic consensus on which one causes which, a...

How Twitter Changes Stealth Authoritarian’s Approach to News Media

Nov 13, 2020 | University of Chicago

In the grand scheme of checks and balances on authoritarian tendencies, the media ideally plays an impartial role as a guardrail against democratic backsliding. 2016 posed a unique challenge to this...