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.

Examining Democratic Backsliding Through the Actions of ICE

The disruption and terror produced by ICE agents have spread rapidly across the United States, having devastating impacts on big cities and small towns alike. In Leominster, Massachusetts — a town with generations of families, many being of Hispanic origin — video...

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.

Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law and Quiet Death of Democratic Accountability

Jan 8, 2026 | University of Pittsburgh

In May of 2024, thousands of Georgians filled the streets of the capital city, Tbilisi, chanting for the country to abandon “Kremlin-style” law, as police fired water...

The Boiling Point of Election Violence: Democratic Erosion in Tanzania

Jan 1, 2026 | University of Pittsburgh

Once hailed for its relative stability in an otherwise politically volatile East Africa, Tanzania has exploded into violence and political protest following the...

The Brandmauer and its Recent Deterioration

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

Firewalls and regional equivalents to it have recently come under heavy strain as nationalist far-right parties have found themselves relative electoral success in the past two years in Central and...

Populism and Authoritarianism in Venezuela

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

Cyrus Sadr Democratic Erosion Professor Steven Rosenzweig 4/9/25 Populism and Authoritarianism in Venezuela The 2024 election of Nicolas Maduro is widely viewed as being fraudulent...

The Erosion of Democracy: Sending U.S. Citizens to El Salvador

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

The idea floated by former President Trump to deport “homegrown criminals”—U.S. citizens—to a maximum security prison in El Salvador is a troubling sign of democratic erosion in the United States....

“Unleashed” – Boris Johnson’s Populist Reincarnation

Apr 17, 2025 | Tartu University

On October 10th, 2024 I ordered the freshly released Boris Johnson memoir, Unleashed (Croft,2024). None of my relatives or friends from the UK, nor any of my classmates, paid any attention to this...

Democratic Erosion Disguised as Stability: Georgia’s Post-Election Crisis

Apr 17, 2025 | Boston University

In Georgia, parliamentary elections in October 2024 spurred mass mobilization and protest nationally over alleged electoral fraud and government violence. Thousands of individuals took to the...

Serbian Protests: Unrest or Backsliding?

Apr 16, 2025 | Boston University

Serbia has seen a wave of student protests over the last four months due to the deadly train station collapse in Novi Sad that has now claimed the lives of 16 people. The collapse comes after recent...

Prosperity Does Not Equal Democracy: Economic Inequality and Democratic Erosion

Apr 15, 2025 | Boston University

The United States is rich. In fact, almost ridiculously so; to illustrate, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook for 2025, the U.S. sits proudly at the apex of worldwide rankings, with an...

The Disbandment of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party: An Example of Authoritarian Consolidation

Apr 13, 2025 | Boston University

On April 13th, 2025, Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, voted to begin dissolving itself. Over 90% of the party’s remaining members backed the decision. This wasn't just...

Why Estonia’s decision to disenfranchise non-EU citizens is doing more harm than good

Apr 9, 2025 | Tartu University

On the 26 of March, the Estonian parliament (the Riigikogu) passed a constitutional amendment to remove the rights to vote in local elections for non-EU residents (Kangro, 2025). This was sparked by...