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.

Arresting Opposition and Squashing Protests: Democratic Backsliding in Turkey Under Erdoğan

Turkey has been inching towards autocracy under Erdoğan and the AKP for the last 22 years.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that nearly 40% of voters are still undecided on who to vote for. After all, most voters already cast...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The Boston Globe urging readers to “Get ready to protest like democracy depends on it.” The article was in...

The Hostess with the Mostest

Dec 18, 2022 | Skidmore College

Qatar has been ruled by a single family known as the Al Thani since 1847. Although the Al-Thani have always controlled Qatar they have gone through phases of colonization by...

The End of an Era: It May be Time to Let Twitter Go

Dec 17, 2022 | Skidmore College

Elon Musk has started to run Twitter into the ground. He has laid off about half of the company’s full-time employees, caused chaos after making blue check mark...

In Israel, Gantz’s Bold Move Promotes Democracy at the Cost of His Political Agenda

Apr 6, 2020 | Boston University

In the Middle East, no country is more democratic than the State of Israel, as evidenced by the Democracy Index of 2019 [1]....

The Coronavirus Pandemic & Potential Voter Suppression

Apr 6, 2020 | Boston University

The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted nearly all aspects of our lives and will have ramifications that will reverberate throughout society for months to come. In particular, social distancing, stay at...

The Flow of Democracy in Bhutan

Apr 6, 2020 | Georgia State University

It’s often argued that democracies run on a supply and demand system; demand being civil society, and according to Michael Fowler, supply being “aggregated into four categories of rational choice...

COVID-19 Adds to Mistrust in United States Government

Apr 6, 2020 | Boston University

The current coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic occurring around the globe is causing there to be mistrust in governments. Specifically, citizens are wondering is their government is telling the...

The Inefficacy of Trump’s COVID-19 Response Delegitimizing American Governance

Apr 6, 2020 | Boston University

Like the rest of the world, Americans have a lot on their minds right now. With the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 reaching 10,000 just this morning, Americans are understandably distressed over the...

Losing Faith: Fear Tactics, Cynicism, and Auguries

Apr 6, 2020 | Rollins College

“Democracy’s Enemy Within,” an article published by the Economist in August of 2019, discusses the fatal flaw that is deteriorating many of the world’s modern democracies from the inside out:...

Art of Persuasion: How do Presidential Candidates Get the Votes?

Apr 6, 2020 | University of Memphis

What are the key factors of a successful presidential rally? Charismatic voice? Convincing arguments in support of your candidacy? Maybe exposing facts about your competitors? How do our candidates...

Trump’s Dismantling of the Last Institution Able to Hold Him Accountable: the Bureaucracy

Apr 5, 2020 | Boston University

During the raging Coronavirus epidemic, in March of 2020, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, broke his usually professional demeanor in a press...

Little to No Resistance in an Age of Resistance?

Apr 5, 2020 | University of Memphis

With the occasional riot in the street, a march, or tiki torches being flown, one could assume that there would be resistance everywhere and anywhere during President Trump's tenure. Yet what about...