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...

Donald Trump’s Populism Influence on the January 6th Storming of the Capitol

Apr 10, 2023 | Rollins College

Photo by Jane Norman (2021) https://lailluminator.com/2021/05/19/u-s-house-oks-commission-to-probe-capitol-attack-but-mcconnell-objections-may-doom-it/ January 6th,...

Why the ATF’s Pistol Brace Ruling Hurts

Apr 10, 2023 | University of Utah

On the January 13th, 2023 the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives signed a new rule that could make millions of Americans felons overnight. Rule 2021R-08F...

The Criminalization of Dissent: Alarming Signs of Democratic Backsliding in Hong Kong

Oct 14, 2020 | Brown University

A subtle revision to official media guidelines has caused an outcry over the state of democracy in Hong Kong. On Wednesday September 23rd, the Hong Kong police force announced their decision to...

Democratic Breakdown Turns Violent in Venezuela

Oct 14, 2020 | University of Georgia

The sweeping reforms of Hugo Chávez not only initiated democratic breakdown within Venezuela, but also signaled a rise in opposition against the increasingly authoritarian regime that remains...

There Is No Democracy Without Reparations

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

The United States is not a democracy. Though some tout the US as a beacon of representative democracy in the world where economic prosperity is all but guaranteed to those who seek it, those people...

Lebanon Ongoing Crisis

Oct 14, 2020 | University of Georgia

On October 13, 1990, major factions all around Lebanon who have been trying to seize control of the country since 1975, signed a historic peace deal between each other. Throughout Lebanon’s history...

Trump’s Proud Boys Invocation Signals Escalation in Authoritarianism

Oct 13, 2020 | University of Georgia

The president’s recent invocation of The Proud Boys at the presidential debate is an escalation in the erosion of democratic norms by appealing directly to a violent street politics group. This...

American Democracy, Be Thankful Trump Isn’t a Real Economic Populist

Oct 13, 2020 | Brown University

As President Trump’s authoritarian tendencies have pushed the U.S. into a period of democratic uncertainty unrivaled in its modern history, it feels as though the situation has regressed to a level...

Ban on TikTok and WeChat: Did President Trump Overstep His Powers?

Oct 13, 2020 | Northeastern University

Prior to the last month, TikTok was known, for the most part, simply as a platform for teenagers to post silly videos of themselves lip-syncing and performing comedy skits. Within the past few...

The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Power of Supreme Court Nominations

Oct 13, 2020 | University of Georgia

The legendary Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at age 87 on Sept. 18, 2020. Americans lost a powerful, strong woman who stood up for women’s rights, as the Republicans are expected to...

“Everyone Judges According to Themselves” – Polish Authoritarianism and Constitutional Erosion

Oct 13, 2020 | University of Georgia

Polish Democracy: Dancing with the Wolves 1989 was a year like no other in recent memory for many countries in Eastern Europe, and this was especially true in Poland. The Iron Curtain was falling,...