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...

What the Removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy means for American Democracy

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

Despite once being hailed as a pillar of democracy and freedom, democracy in the United States has been under threat for a while. Political circumstances threaten American...

Is Guatemala’s Democratic Backsliding Reaching a Tipping Point?

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

There is great fear that Guatemala’s democracy is weakening beyond the point of return. Amid election fraud, Guatemala has turned into a country of chaos. The protests are...

The Zoom Campaign: Political Participation During COVID

Oct 24, 2020 | Suffolk University

The Presidency of Donald Trump has seen the soft guard rails of our democracy eroded. For the first time in recent memory, the protections that many thought were intertwined with American style...

New Regime, Age-Old Conflict: Legitimacy Pressure Pushes Post-Revolution Armenia into War

Oct 24, 2020 | Williams College

Armenia enters new fighting over an old dispute, and the fledgling democracy's pursuit of legitimacy is playing a role. Not only was legitimacy instrumental in the ouster of former Prime Minister...

The Politicization of the Pandemic

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

Levitsky and Ziblatt write that ‘extreme polarization can kill democracies.’ [1] Polarization of politics in the US has left Americans not only at risk from a weakening of democracy, but it has also...

Why Myanmar’s Upcoming “Democratic” Election Is a Case for Democratic Erosion

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

The National League of Democracy’s (NLD) landslide victory in Myanmar’s 2015 election seemingly marked a huge milestone for a country that had once been governed by a military junta for over five...

Loyalty Over Truth: The War Between Trump and U.S. Intelligence Agencies

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

On January 29, 2019, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and other intelligence agency leaders appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee to present their findings on the major...

As a Nation, We Must Reexamine and Reimagine Our Conceptions of Democracy and Justice

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

The America of today is ready to change her conceptions of Democracy and Justice for the future, but she must be cognizant of her history and equipped for the path ahead. The truth of the matter is...

Presidential Debates, Legitimate Opposition, and Democratic Erosion in the U.S.

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

Masks off. Insults exchanged. Microphones muted. The events of this year’s presidential debates have grabbed a significant portion of the US presidential election news cycle, with controversies,...

USPS Crisis as a Case of Stealth Authoritarianism

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

In the 2016 U.S Presidential election, approximately 33 million voters cast their ballots by mail, which accounted for one quarter of all ballots cast. With the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented...

Wisconsin: A State Reflective of the United States’ Eroding Democracy

Oct 24, 2020 | University of Chicago

On April 7th, 2020, states all around the nation watched as the implosion of Wisconsin’s government occurred as there was a tug of war between a conservative state Supreme Court and a democratic...