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.

Food Security is Rooted Abroad

Global fertilizer supply chains connect geopolitical events abroad to food production at home in ways most consumers don’t see.

The Meaning of Silence : What the moment of silence for Melissa Hortman says about American democracy

On June 14, 2025, the lives of Melissa Hortman who was a House speaker in Minnesota and her husband Mark were taken in what authorities believe to be a politically motivated act of violence. The same day Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and...

The New Future of Warfare? How Social Media is Inflating Tensions Between the U.S. and Iran.

Social media is moving to the forefront of the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with political elites from both sides of the conflict using social media as a weapon to fabricate narratives and generate AI videos to publicly denounce the actions of one...

Trump Cracks Down on Campus Dissent

Apr 18, 2025 | Boston University

Since Trump’s reelection, his administration has waged a series of attacks on pro-Palestinian campus protests, most notably at Harvard and Columbia. In freezing the federal...

Media and Democracy In India: How Media Repression Is Linked to Polarization

Apr 18, 2025 | Boston University

In early January of 2025, freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar was found murderered in Bijapur, a district within Chhattisgarh, India. His body was found in a septic tank...

Democractic Erosion in the West Bank

Apr 30, 2021 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

Since the 1967 War Israel has had control over the West Bank and the Palestinian community that resides within it. Due to the lack of civil liberties and human rights for Palestinian people the West...

Democratic Erosion in Argentina

Apr 30, 2021 | Georgia State University

Democratic roots of Argentina Argentina today has in my opinion a very volatile democracy history; they are a federal constitutional republic with a representative democracy. Argentina has been a...

The Growth of Populism in El Salvador

Apr 30, 2021 | Georgia State University

El Salvador has had a difficult history when it comes to obtaining democracy in the country. They have been at the hands of multiple oppressive regimes since their independence and the first...

Democratic Erosion in Nigeria

Apr 30, 2021 | Georgia State University

Nigeria's connection with democracy has had the same exact makeup of a bad relationship. In the year of 1959 elections were held under the adopted “Westminster'' model of democracy but the country...

Myanmar’s Coup Cycle: Civil Society’s Fruitless Resistance

Apr 29, 2021 | Arizona State University

Civil society has met the military’s coup in February and detainment of democratic heroine Aung San Suu Kyi with both nonviolent and violent forms of protest. Will we see a revival in Myanmar’s...

Protests in Haiti

Apr 29, 2021 | Georgia State University

Nothing has ever come easy for Haiti and the citizens in Haiti. The country is on the verge of another violent collapse as Haitians take their grief and complaints to the streets regarding the...

A New Normal: Philippine Democracy Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Apr 29, 2021 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

It has been a year since COVID-19 shocked the world. Known as a zoonotic disease, COVID-19 is believed to be originated from animals or products from animal origins, transmitted to humans. This is a...

Democratic Erosion: United States

Apr 29, 2021 | Georgia State University

What happens when citizens suddenly feel they have lost their rights and their voices are not being heard? The minute the government does not take any accountability for plummeting democratic...

Democratic Erosion: Kenya

Apr 29, 2021 | Georgia State University

Kenya, a colony occupied by the United Kingdom originating in 1895, was first colonized during the Scramble to Africa. At this time, European countries, predominantly Belgium, Italy, Portugal,...