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.

Due Process Violation and Democratic Erosion in El Salvador

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 government launched an extreme and shocking crackdown on gang...

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

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 international terrorists from replicating. The Afghan government heavily...

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

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 single most dramatic decline of democracy in the world. The rate at...

Hartsfield’s Landing

In a recent reunion episode of The West Wing, the original cast got together in an empty Los Angeles theater to re-enact “Hartsfield’s Landing” - an episode from the third season of the show on the...

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