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.

Israel’s Judicial Reforms: A Potential Danger to Democracy?

Israel’s suggested judicial reforms pose a risk to democratic checks and balances by undermining the independence of the judiciary, centralizing executive authority, and potentially weakening democratic principles, similar to what has been observed in countries like Poland.

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...

Hungary: From Championship of Democratization to Hybrid Regime of Electoral Autocracy

Jan 5, 2023 | Sabanci University

Once described as the champion of the third wave of democratization in Europe, Hungary has become a pioneer of democratic backsliding. The concept of democratic backsliding...

How Corruption and Nepotism Hinder Peru’s Consolidation of Democracy

Jan 5, 2023 | Sabanci University

A recent attempted coup has rocked Peru. Former president Pedro Castillo dissolved congress and attempted to install a “Government of Exception” in the early hours of...

Ramadan and COVID19 – troublesome times for Niger

May 1, 2020 | Georgia State University

Niger had already been grappling with insecurity and poverty, not it has been dealt severe blows stemming by the coronavirus. Primarily, Niger is one of the poorest nations in the world. Many...

Jamaica’s decline in democracy: Who is responsible?

Apr 30, 2020 | Georgia State University

Jamaica’s democracy experienced three declines between 2010 and 2019. Specifically these declines began in 2011, 2015, and 2017. Within each decline Jamaica experienced either: vertical corruption,...

Political Corruption Sparks Civic Engagement in the Dominican Republic

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

The Dominican Republic is a fairly new democracy, emerging as recently as the late nineties through collaboration between the Christian Reform Party and the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 1994...

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...