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 blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

How Trump is using Stealth Authority

Trump is using stealth authoritarianism in his past presidency, after losing his presidency to Biden, and in his current presidency.

Election Denialism Might be The New Normal in The United States

Although Trump can’t run for another term, the false narrative of election fraud could help to create pushback from his party in the event that Democrats win the next election.

Stealth Authoritarianism in Tunisia

According to Al Jazeera, Tunisia’s January 2026 sentencing of two journalists to three year prison terms for allegedly “spreading false news" illustrates the broader pattern of democratic erosion under president Kais Saied. Once widely regarded as the only democratic...

Orbán and Trump: Faces of Dying Democracies.

Apr 19, 2024 | Ursinus College

Donald Trump has been compared to a lot throughout his mediocre rise into politics. Even during the infancy of his 2016 election, Trump was being compared to dictators,...

Brazil’s Political Maze: Navigating Turbulence and Corruption

Apr 19, 2024 | Ursinus College

In recent years, Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has found himself under heightened scrutiny due to ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption....

Top of the Pops: The Populist Reality Show Star with the Lowest Approval

Oct 26, 2020 | Georgia State University

How can we classify the self-pitched-Playboy-Cover-model son of a wealthy, racist real estate developer as a populist when he is neither like the people he claims to represent nor does he enact...

Uprising in Belarus: Protesting Is a Universal Language

Oct 26, 2020 | Georgia State University

In 1966, just two short years before his life would be taken by the infuriated opposition, Martin Luther King, Jr. said in an interview, when asked about “Black Power,” that “a riot is the language...

The Mansfield Blue Wave

Oct 25, 2020 | Suffolk University

Democracy is at its most fragile during times of war, terrorism, and elections. The United States just happens to be at a crossroads of all three. With constant war being funded in the Middle East...

Misperception Is Reality: The Psychology of Political Polarization in the United States

Oct 25, 2020 | Suffolk University

Americans are not as polarized as we think we are. A new report from Beyond Conflict, a non-profit that leverages research from cognitive and behavioral science to address issues of conflict...

BLM Insight from Co-Founder Opal Tometi: How A Hashtag Led To A Worldwide Race Movement

Oct 25, 2020 | Suffolk University

One of the brains behind the Black Lives Matter movement and Human rights activist Opal Tometi was invited by NYU for a webinar hosted by professors Pamela Newkirk and Deborah Wills on October 7,...

Exploring the Structural Causes Behind Hungary’s Backslide from Democracy

Oct 25, 2020 | University of Chicago

Earlier in 2020, while the pandemic dominated news headlines across the world, the NGO freedom house pushed out a silent but stunning report. One deeply alarming takeaway - there are now less...

Social-Political Distance: Problematic Partisanship in Remote Campaigns

Oct 25, 2020 | Suffolk University

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated weaknesses present in democracies across the world. Freedom House reported that the condition of democracy and human rights has worsened in 80 countries, much...

President Erdogan and the Preeminence of AKP Rule Devastates Turkey’s Democracy

Oct 25, 2020 | Suffolk University

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has challenged Turkey's scant democracy, through exceptional use of oppression against journalism and democratic representation, extreme military hostilities...

Facebook and Content Moderation: An Inconspicuous Driver of Democratic Erosion

Oct 25, 2020 | Williams College

In 2004, in a small dorm room at Harvard University, Facebook was born. A platform initially designed for American college students to network and meet each other has grown to host nearly 3 billion...