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...

Ballots and Bullets: How Political Violence Is Undermining Democracy in Mexico

Apr 7, 2025 | Tartu University

Ballots and Bullets: How Political Violence Is Undermining Democracy in Mexico In 2024, Mexico held one of the largest and most consequential elections in its recent...

Anti-Government Protests and Democratic Erosion in Slovakia

Apr 7, 2025 | Tartu University

Anti-Government Protests and Democratic Erosion in Slovakia In its 2025 report, Transparency International highlighted Slovakia as a "country to watch”, noting that the...

Do President Moon’s Policies Point to the Abolition of The National Security Law ?

Jan 19, 2021 | Koç University

After the World War II, Korean peninsula occupied by the two superpowers. The United States occupied the South side of the country, and the USSR occupied the North side of the country. After...

WhatsApp Drives a Double-Edged Sword Through Nigerian Democracy

Jan 19, 2021 | Brown University

Social media and democracy often share a love-hate relationship in the Global South. In many cases, the blessing of free communication arrives alongside an infectious misinformation curse. In...

After Mahathir Mohamad’s Resignation, Is Malaysia Returning to the Old Political Strategy? Has the ‘Pro-Democracy’ Movement Ended?

Jan 16, 2021 | Koç University

Photo by Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images In 2018, the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (The Pact of Hope) won the elections for the first time in Malaysia's political history. However,...

Bolivia & Morales

Jan 16, 2021 | Koç University

Bolivia is multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and has many religions. It has a tough land locked geography and has had a turbulent colonial past. It’s name comes from a popular Latin American hero of...

Bolsonaro’s Rise in Brazil: Are the Suggestions of His Son Eduardo and Vice President Hamilton Serious?

Jan 15, 2021 | Koç University

After the elections held in October 2018, the major change for Brazil has come to existence in which the country’s democratic backsliding will intensely seem to increase. His populist discourses...

Priority of Ecuadorians: Democracy or Economic Welfare?

Jan 15, 2021 | Koç University

Ecuador has seen a prosperity period between 2007 and 2017. The populist leader implied socialist economic policies and economic welfare of the Ecuadorians improved. He created a new constitutional...

Warning Signs for Georgian Democracy

Jan 15, 2021 | Koç University

Thirty years after independence from the Soviet Union, the political landscape in Georgia is more polarized than ever. Currently, the major rift takes place between the ruling Georgian Dream Party...

Slovakia: Corruption, Populism, and Representation Issues; Can Anti-Establishment Movement Change It?

Jan 15, 2021 | Koç University

Picture: Left to right; Matovic, Caputova, Fico. Retrieved from https://dam.nmhmedia.sk/image/3d7bd6a9-0365-4bef-969b-92c96faae26d_phpzrlvlq.jpg/1200/630 Slovakian democracy is young and has recent...

How Italian Electoral Laws and Changes Affect Italian Democracy

Jan 15, 2021 | Koç University

Many different factors can be influential on the choice of the people in free and fair elections which are the requirements of democracy. Economic, political, social, and other reasons determine...