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.

President Trump Attacks News Agencies Through Legal Means

President Trump has been attacking our democracy through legal means by suing news agencies and journalist.

The SAVE Act, Voter Suppression, and Erosion in the US

Conservatives are championing the SAVE Act as a way to combat voter fraud, but what about when it enforces voter suppression?

Hungary: A Case Study of Democratic Backsliding in the European Union

Hungary’s gradual democratic backsliding under Viktor Orbán demonstrates how legal reforms, centralized executive power, and weakened institutional checks can erode democracy from within, turning a once-promising post-communist transition into a partially free, delegative system

Similar ways of Autocratization by Erdogan and Orban

Jan 7, 2024 | Sabanci University

Both leaders have faced criticism for actions that limit the indolence of the media, thereby constraining the free flow of salt information. Orban’s government has been...

Resistance Against Digital Authoritarianism: The Case of Venezuela

Jan 6, 2024 | Sabanci University

Almost every country uses digital surveillance to some extent, whether it is for crime prevention and security, healthcare, or identity verification. But in some countries...

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is Openly Whittling Away at Democracy

Oct 14, 2020 | Brown University

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is no friend to open democracy as exemplified by his interference with the judicial branch, meddling in elections, and his latest authoritarian actions in...

How the Polarizing Two Party System Will Put an Unfit Candidate in Office

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

The first debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, seemed like it was a shouting match between twelve year olds arguing at the playground. It has come to the point in the...

Ethiopia is Prosecuting the Opposition as the U.S. Turns a Blind Eye

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

Ethiopia’s democracy has been slowly backsliding. What started as a successful new era for leader Abiy Ahmed with sweeping government reforms and even a Nobel Peace Prize has dissolved into near...

Trump’s Attacks on Electoral Institutions Raise Red Flags for Democracy

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

The Republican party is actively enabling Trump to disregard the rules of our democracy by pushing a supreme court nominee hastily through the confirmation process during an ongoing election, and by...

A Thousand Worthless Words: How U.S Presidential Debates Fail To Provide a Democratic Service

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

Tuning into the first presidential debate of 2020, one could easily think CBS was gearing up to show the next WWE Super Showdown. The dramatic opening music, intense lighting and garish graphics...

Is Correa’s Ban From Future Elections Undemocratic?

Oct 14, 2020 | Brown University

On September 7, the former president of Ecuador Rafael Correa was banned from running for office in the upcoming 2021 elections. Correa’s supporters (also known as Correístas) view the...

A Pandemic of “Third-Termism” in West Africa?

Oct 14, 2020 | University of Georgia

The international community has difficulty punishing leaders who undermine electoral power transitions through democratic channels. In August 2020, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced...

Bread or Freedom

Oct 14, 2020 | Northeastern University

Under the Soviet Union, Russian’s prioritized bread over freedom. It seems as though they still prefer bread. Freedom House rates Russia a 20% on its democracy scale and blames the strong...

Mexico: A Definite Delegative Democracy

Oct 14, 2020 | Brown University

In 2018 Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his political party, MORENA, historically won not only the Mexican Presidential election but also the Senate and the lower house. Many have been...