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...

How the NRA Contributes to America’s Democratic Erosion

Apr 19, 2023 | University of Utah

In a recent poll, 1 in 5 Americans has experienced gun violence in the past 5 years. The same poll revealed that 75% of Americans are in favor of raising the legal age of...

The US Populace and Bureaucracy: A Surprisingly Positive View

Apr 11, 2023 | Rollins College

Bureaucracy, what many consider the fourth branch of the United States government, is not typically viewed as popular among Americans. Indeed, in her book, The Politics of...

Voting and Electoral Manipulation

Oct 17, 2020 | Suffolk University

Civic Engagement For my civic engagement I joined a virtual roundtable on voting and electoral manipulation. I learned many insightful things about the state of our Democracy that I had not...

Pre-Existing Condition: Scars from Apartheid Keep a Young Democracy Down

Oct 17, 2020 | Brown University

Just because a new government 'checks all the boxes' of a democracy doesn’t mean it’s going to run smoothly. The conditions under which a democratic society is born have lasting impacts on the...

Germany: Does Political Extremism Hurt Its Democracy?

Oct 16, 2020 | University of Georgia

According to The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Germany qualifies as a country with full democracy, which means that “civil liberties and fundamental...

Jo Jorgensen and Howie Hawkins: Why You Should Think About Voting for 2020’s Third Party Candidates

Oct 16, 2020 | University of Georgia

Only one U.S. president has won his election without being aligned with one of the two major political parties. His name was George Washington. All presidents after him, whether they were...

Development & Democracy: Sub-Saharan Africa Handicapped by Colonialism?

Oct 16, 2020 | Brown University

When you search up “Africa” and “democracy in a web browser, you see headlines like “Fight for Democracy”, “Safeguarding Democracy”, and “Threats to Democratic Transition”; these headlines signal...

Will Trump Peacefully Step Down if He Loses the 2020 Election?

Oct 15, 2020 | University of Georgia

While there have been highly contentious U.S. presidential elections in the past, there has never been reason to question if the presidential incumbent would step down in the face of a loss....

Kashmiri Lives as a Force of Indian Democratic Erosion

Oct 15, 2020 | University of Georgia

On the night of September 24th, Kashmiri lawyer and activist, Babar Qadri, was shot dead in his home by two gunmen posing as potential clients. Qadri had been a controversial figure in India and...

The Corporate Threat: Can We Really Expect the Fox To Leave the Henhouse?

Oct 15, 2020 | Northeastern University

As the United States presidential elections draw closer, indicators that the incumbent will not accept the election results rise. American democracy relies upon free and fair elections, but for...

The United States Feels Ominously Like Chavez’s Venezuela, Just Weeks From Its Presidential Election

Oct 15, 2020 | Northeastern University

With the United States approaching its most contentious election yet, the atmosphere feels like a Latin American déjà vu… As President Hugo Chavez threatened his opponents on live television the...