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...

Leveraging External Issues to Support Democracy: How the Fight for Abortion Rights Protected Democracy in Wisconsin

Apr 28, 2023 | University of Utah

In 2010, Republicans won a series of state legislative races in Wisconsin which allowed for them to redraw district lines to their own advantage; this strategy cemented...

The Greater Idaho Movement is Tearing Oregon Apart

Apr 27, 2023 | University of Utah

In the minds of most Americans, states are indissoluble bodies, bound by ties stronger even than those which bind the Union herself. Even in times where talk of secession...

The Responsibility of Power and the Power of Responsibility

Oct 21, 2020 | Suffolk University

Routt County Court House (Picture from Library of Congress) As learned from working on a County Commissioner Campaign Written by Greta Thurson This blog post is in no way advocating against running...

The Election of Yoshihide Suga: Gatekeeping in Japan

Oct 21, 2020 | University of Chicago

During the chaotic year of 2020, many Americans can be forgiven for missing a recent transition of power in Japan, but it represents a worrying case of democratic erosion with lessons for our own...

The Promises and Perils of Judicial Reform

Oct 21, 2020 | Williams College

Since 2015, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party has engaged in a systematic effort to remake their courts in the name of unrooting corruption and promoting the people's interest. Many countries...

Political Circuses in the U.S. and Mexico: Avoiding the Coronavirus Pandemic and Embracing Democratic Erosion

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

Headline stories such as President Trump banning TikTok in the U.S. and President Andrés Manual Lopéz Obrador commenting on high profile Mexican elites’ scandals have taken over the media and these...

Catalonia and Madrid: Has Democracy Prevailed?

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

Under what circumstances does a region have a right to secede from its nation? To what degree can a nation democratically go to keep its regions from seceding? Spain and its famous region to the...

Rise of CyberSecurity Challenges Due to Covid

Oct 20, 2020 | Suffolk University

Early this year around April, I noticed that I was receiving a lot more spam mail than usual. I also received calls from unknown numbers more frequently, as well as scam applications for various...

Progressive Federalism in Practice: State Attorneys General As Safeguards Against Executive Aggrandizement

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

“Trump gets powerful new rival in Letitia James,” proclaimed one headline. “The thorn in Trump's side,” said another, soon after New York Attorney General Letitia James took office in 2019. Almost...

“Democratic” Elections in Cameroon

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

What does it mean when everyone already knows the results of an election months, or even years, before it occurs? The citizens of Cameroon, a country in Central Africa, expect the...

Partisanship: A Threat to American Judicial Independence

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

It is no secret to pro-democracy advocates and authoritarian rulers alike that an independent judiciary is a fundamental protection against authoritarian regression. Indeed, an independent judiciary...