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.

Donald Trump the Nazi Reincarnate?: Godwin’s Law and How This Phenomenon is Counterproductive to Understanding Democratic Erosion

What do we hope to accomplish when comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, a tyrannical perpetrator of genocide?

The Russia-Ukraine War Bodes Poorly for Democracy, But Not in the Way You Think

The Russia-Ukraine War is a serious threat to global democracy through the growing wave of isolationism in the United States, an entity that has typically been at the forefront of fighting authoritarianism across the world.

The Trump Administration’s Attack on USAID

The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID, increase concerns about democratic backsliding as it could result in a trend with the executive undermining institutional legitimacy.

6 Arrows: Does Modern Turkey Still Follow the Ideology of Ataturk?

Dec 16, 2022 | Suffolk University

Kemalism, also Ataturkism, is the ideology of Turkish nationalism put forward by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is still considered to be the official ideology of the Republic of...

Democratic Erosion: Threats in the Philippine Democracy

Dec 16, 2022 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Democratic Erosion (also known as Democratic Backsliding) is an unsettlingly prevalent phenomenon in which competitive elections are undermined, individuals lose the right...

American Authoritarianism and Polarization in the Trump Era

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

An impeachment witness is now an ex-government employee after President Trump asserted his borderline tyrannical presidential powers to remove his political adversaries. 2020 has already been a year...

Trump– Hero or Nero

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

In my lifetime, democracy has been heralded as the premier form of governance. The will of the individual in concert with others legislates their prerogatives. Historically, democracy has manifested...

Tale of the Tape: Catalonia vs. Spain

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

In 1978, the death of the execrable dictator Francisco Franco left Spain at a crossroads: either embrace ethnolinguistic regionalism and form several independent states or unite under a common flag....

Was the Election Petition in Ghana a Blessing in Disguise?

Apr 28, 2020 | Georgia State University

For this analytical blog, an assessment of the election petition that took place during Ghana’s Presidential election in 2012 can provide a glimpse into the country’s transition to establishing a...

Consequences of Political Corruption in Bolivia

Apr 28, 2020 | Georgia State University

My blog post is based on how the Bolivia Crisis demonstrated aspects of democratic backsliding. After reading the article by Anria and Roberts (2019), the crisis in Bolivia stems from the...

What Happens After an Autocrat Dies? Legacies of The Country Once A Democracy

Apr 28, 2020 | Bilkent University

As the democracies around the world started to take a regressive turn, the academic literature and policy agenda of many pay more attention to the subject of de-democratization. As more and more...

Fight Fire with Fire? – Hostage Diplomacy between the US and Iran

Apr 28, 2020 | Bilkent University

Coronavirus pandemic had impacted our daily lives as well as the international relations today. The impact of the pandemic, the fueling of democratic backsliding in certain liberal and electoral...

Some Monsters are Created by Good Will: How can South Korea’s Digital Surveillance Contribute Democratic Backsliding Overseas?

Apr 28, 2020 | Bilkent University

South Korea’s fight against the Covid-19 turns out to be worrisome! Not for being ineffective in combating the virus, but for a different story that I would like to tell. As a part of the fight...

The Ill Fate of Nicaragua

Apr 28, 2020 | Bilkent University

The lack of democracy and basic freedom in Nicaragua is not a new trend in the country. Over the last century, the country has experienced the invasion of the United States, dictatorship rule by a...