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.

Food Security is Rooted Abroad

Global fertilizer supply chains connect geopolitical events abroad to food production at home in ways most consumers don’t see.

The Meaning of Silence : What the moment of silence for Melissa Hortman says about American democracy

On June 14, 2025, the lives of Melissa Hortman who was a House speaker in Minnesota and her husband Mark were taken in what authorities believe to be a politically motivated act of violence. The same day Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and...

The New Future of Warfare? How Social Media is Inflating Tensions Between the U.S. and Iran.

Social media is moving to the forefront of the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with political elites from both sides of the conflict using social media as a weapon to fabricate narratives and generate AI videos to publicly denounce the actions of one...

Trump’s January 6 Pardons

Feb 14, 2025 | Boston University

Donald Trump's pardoning of roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged from the January 6th insurrection is a dangerous step in undermining American democracy and freedom. It...

The Fear of Losing Family: Donald Trumps Controversial Immigration Policies

Feb 14, 2025 | Boston University

Image From: Chicago Council of Global Affairs Since he first ran for office in 2016, one of Donald Trump's biggest concerns was clear: illegal immigration. President Trump...

Democrats vs. Republicans Shouldn’t Be a Sports Match, and Yet…

Nov 22, 2020 | Northeastern University

Donald J. Trump lost his re-election campaign for President of the United States. This is a fact. As of now, former Vice-President Joe Biden has received almost 80 million votes to Trump’s nearly 74...

From Shirley Chisholm to Kamala Harris: An Impossible Inception to a Realized Inspiration

Nov 22, 2020 | Suffolk University

As all of the United States, let alone many foreign countries around the globe waited on an official vote count, which ended four days later, the world would finally know which political party the...

A Civil President

Nov 21, 2020 | Suffolk University

It was the afternoon of Saturday November 7th I was walking down the street when I unexpectedly got involved in the most exciting civic engagement of recent days. It was an unusually warm,...

How Mis/Disinformation Plagues Political Protests

Nov 21, 2020 | Suffolk University

Speaking as a teenager in the United States, it is safe to say I spend a lot of my time on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etcetera. Currently, I have been seeing many...

Political Awareness Post-Election

Nov 21, 2020 | Suffolk University

Following election day, it is fair to say anxiety levels were high. As my friend and I spent hours glued to the television, we watched history write itself as voter turnout soared and swing states...

Young Voters and Division: What Should America Be Worrying About?

Nov 20, 2020 | Suffolk University

Young voters around the country have faced unprecedented circumstances in voting during a historic election. As many students continue their lives from behind a computer screen, Suffolk University...

Donald Trump: The Best Worst President in Democratic History

Nov 20, 2020 | Suffolk University

Throughout the past four years, the Trump Administration has been among the most confusing cases of revolving doors and executive disorder in the history of the United States. Before this, the...

Suburban White Women, Polarization, and Democratic Erosion

Nov 20, 2020 | University of Chicago

It has long been established that party polarization can contribute to democratic erosion. As Steven Levitsky and Deniel Ziblatt have pointed out, when extremists emerge as serious electoral...

The Political Dismay That Entangles Around the Nation’s Main Political Parties

Nov 19, 2020 | Suffolk University

The date of November 3rd, 2020 has been anticipated to come for over four years now due to the uprile and the call from the masses to urge citizens and voters to vote for what they believe to be a...