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.

The Informational Middleman: A Hidden Literacy Crisis, Who Gets to Explain Democracy?

What if you can vote but can’t understand what you’re voting on? Imagine two citizens receiving identical governmental notices before preparing to cast their votes in an upcoming election. Both have the same legal right to vote, contact their representatives, and...

How Many Resignations are Too Many Resignations?: The Political Environment of the UK Leading to Keir Starmer Relinquishing his Premiership

There has been a lot of commotion in the last years about the instability of liberal democracies, and particularly established democracies which have made a considerable amount of people question their validity and efficacy. A particularly interesting example of this...

When Legal Authority May Undermine Democracy: The Overseas Voting Forms Controversy

In late August, the Trump Administration used emergency requests to alter the federal voting form used by overseas U.S. citizens, limiting how certain voters can request ballots. The changes include the elimination of a checkbox for U.S. citizens born abroad who have...

Neg Bannan Nan (Banana Man) to Barbecue : A Democracy in Free Fall

Oct 2, 2026 | Boston University

On July 7, 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home, and the suspects and conspiracy theories surrounding the attack have fallen on political...

How Free Are American Elections? Democratic Erosion in the 2026 Election Cycle

Oct 2, 2026 | Boston University

I spent my summer working on a campaign, doing community outreach and speaking with constituents from a range of backgrounds. One concern that repeatedly came up was voting....

The Combo of Asset Freezes and Deterioration of Democratic Norms relegates India’s Democratic Standing

Apr 15, 2026 | Boston University

Recently, India has been experiencing some forms of democratic backsliding. According to Nancy Bermeo’s “On Democratic Backsliding”, she depicts democratic backsliding as “the weakening and...

How Bureaucratic Changes are Quietly Dismantling Democracy

Apr 13, 2026 | University of Houston

When we think of democratic collapse, we usually imagine tanks in the streets or protestors storming a palace. We don’t typically think of a quiet office in Washington D.C. where a bureaucrat signs...

Tempering Potential Post-Election Expectations in Hungary

Apr 12, 2026 | Boston University

Hungary’s 21st century shift from liberal democracy into a “hybrid regime” – or a competitive authoritarianist state, as the phenomenon is also sometimes known – has been well-studied and quite...

Due Process Violation and Democratic Erosion in El Salvador

Apr 6, 2026 | University of Houston

In March 2022, El Salvador declared a state of emergency that would reshape not only the country's political landscape but also their legal foundation. Under the current President Nayib Bukele, the...

How weak institutions led to the fall of Afghanistan’s democracy.

Apr 6, 2026 | University of Houston

From 2004 through 2021, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was established after the invasion by the U.S. This invasion was a response to the September 11 attacks, and to prevent any further...

Democracy in America in Historic Decline: What’s Next For the USA?

Apr 3, 2026 | Suffolk University

With the release of the most recent V-Dem report on world democracy, the US has reached a 60-year low dropping all the way back to levels before the civil rights era. This has been labeled as the...

Looking at Trump’s and Obama’s State of the Unions Through the Lens of Mutual Toleration

Apr 1, 2026 | Salem State University

On February 24th, 2026, President Trump delivered the longest State of the Union Address in American history. His speech addressed a range of topics such as the U.S economy, immigration, foreign...

Is Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Actually Keeping Us Safe?

Mar 31, 2026 | Suffolk University

Voter fraud in the United States is almost nonexistent, with very little evidence suggesting that noncitizens are the ones committing it, if it does happen. Audits and research have repeatedly found...

The New Poll Tax: How Trump’s Executive Order Is Designed to Keep People From Voting

Mar 30, 2026 | Suffolk University

The New Poll Tax: How Trump's Executive Order Is Designed to Keep People From Voting Imagine being told you need a passport to vote. Not to travel abroad - to vote in the country where...