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.

South Africa’s Democracy: Why Gradual Institutional Weakening and Public Distrust Matter

Democracy doesn't necessarily die suddenly. A country can continue to have elections, courts, political parties, and freedom of speech, but its democracy could gradually erode. I think South Africa is a great example of that. South Africa remains a democracy but...

Venezuela Still Had Elections. So, What Happened to Democracy?

Venezuela and Democratic Erosion When people imagine a democracy turning authoritarian, they often picture a military coup or a leader suddenly canceling elections. Venezuela shows that democratic decline can happen much more slowly. Elections, courts, legislatures,...

Bread in a Backsliding Circus? Broken Distributive Promises Fueling Indonesia’s Student Protests

Indonesia has long maintained a fragile relationship with democracy, teetering between dictatorship under Suharto until 1998, to becoming one of Asia’s most celebrated democratic success stories in the 2000s, and now again slowly backsliding towards authoritarianism...

At What Point Does Protecting Democracy Become Undemocratic?

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

The classical understanding of democracy rests on the abstract concept of the “common good” and the idea that people elect representatives to carry out their collective...

Voting Rights vs. Indigenous Self-Determination in New Caledonia

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In 2024, President Macron proposed an expansion of voting rights in the French sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia, a cluster of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The proposal led to...

How Turkey’s Justice System Became a Tool for Political Control and how backsliding ways change

Oct 23, 2026 | George Mason University

Coups are supposed to be considered as the fastest way to erode a democracy. Soldiers seize power and elections disappear. But sometimes the coup is only the beginning of the real threat. Turkey...

Is Democracy Deteriorating? A One-Year Assessment of the Implications of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts on Democracy Abroad

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In July 2025, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially shut down. The move had been one of the first major actions taken by the Trump administration in his second...

The Double-Edged Sword: Comparing Judicial Review in the United States and Israel

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

Both the United States and Israel have powerful judiciaries which have accorded themselves the authority to strike down government actions they deem unconstitutional. However, comparing their...

The Ballot Box Is Open, but Is Democracy Free? Cartel Power in Mexico

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

Put frankly, yes, Mexico is still a democracy in an important sense. Citizens vote, opposition parties compete, and political power changes hands. In June 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum won the presidency...

When Accountability Becomes a Weapon: The Powell Investigation and the Limits of Stealth Authoritarianism

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

A criminal investigation of a powerful official doesn’t seem like democratic erosion. Equal application of the law is a central democratic principle. The real questions are why, why now, and by...

Can Citizens Still Discern?: Credibility and Vertical Accountability in the Age of AI

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In 2017, Weitz-Shapiro and Winters conducted research on information credibility in Brazil, finding that citizens unilaterally punished corrupt politicians in the polls and could widely discern...

Remnants of the Fifth Republic: Should France Limit Article 49.3?

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In February, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu used Article 49.3 of the Constitution to forcibly pass the 2026 state budget. Earlier this month, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure vowed to...

The German Far-Right is Benefiting from Dissatisfaction With the Political Center

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In September of 2026, three states in Germany, including Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, held state elections, the first elections since 2021 in the two eastern states and...