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.

Trump’s Press Ban and The Courts Response

Access to unbarred media is fundamental to maintaining the integrity of a democratic country. Without independent media, the stream of information to voters is disrupted making people's understanding of their political environment inaccurate. If the media...

Trump’s Use of the SAVE Database May Threaten Democratic Participation

On Friday, September 25th, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to make use of the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to screen state voter lists for possible noncitizens temporarily. The...

The Press and the Limits of Presidential Power

On September 25, 2026, The Atlantic published Quinta Jurecic’s article, “The Two-Year Temper Tantrum to Come,” about President Donald Trump’s recent fight with the White House press. Just one day earlier, a federal judge had ordered the White House to restore access...

Authoritarian Reinforcement: Another 5 Years in Belarus

Feb 12, 2025 | Boston University

On January 26th, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus announced that President Alexander Lukashenko had secured a seventh term in office, extending his...

The Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Former Satellite States

Feb 12, 2025 | Boston University

Former Soviet satellite states that were once poster children for democratization following the decline of European communism have been making drastic pivots towards...

Political Circuses in the U.S. and Mexico: Avoiding the Coronavirus Pandemic and Embracing Democratic Erosion

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

Headline stories such as President Trump banning TikTok in the U.S. and President Andrés Manual Lopéz Obrador commenting on high profile Mexican elites’ scandals have taken over the media and these...

Catalonia and Madrid: Has Democracy Prevailed?

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

Under what circumstances does a region have a right to secede from its nation? To what degree can a nation democratically go to keep its regions from seceding? Spain and its famous region to the...

Rise of CyberSecurity Challenges Due to Covid

Oct 20, 2020 | Suffolk University

Early this year around April, I noticed that I was receiving a lot more spam mail than usual. I also received calls from unknown numbers more frequently, as well as scam applications for various...

Progressive Federalism in Practice: State Attorneys General As Safeguards Against Executive Aggrandizement

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

“Trump gets powerful new rival in Letitia James,” proclaimed one headline. “The thorn in Trump's side,” said another, soon after New York Attorney General Letitia James took office in 2019. Almost...

“Democratic” Elections in Cameroon

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

What does it mean when everyone already knows the results of an election months, or even years, before it occurs? The citizens of Cameroon, a country in Central Africa, expect the...

Partisanship: A Threat to American Judicial Independence

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

It is no secret to pro-democracy advocates and authoritarian rulers alike that an independent judiciary is a fundamental protection against authoritarian regression. Indeed, an independent judiciary...

American Exceptionalism or An Eroding Election?: Destructive Voting Procedures in the United States

Oct 20, 2020 | Williams College

During a Virtual Roundtable on Voting and Electoral Manipulation that occurred on Friday, September 25th, democratic erosion experts pointed to the unfortunate fact that voters in the United States...

Looking Beyond the SHIELD ACT: American Responses to Foreign Intervention Are Too Limited in Scope

Oct 19, 2020 | University of Chicago

Reforms proposed in the SHIELD ACT to limit foreign financial contributions in the 2020 election are insufficient to protect electoral integrity. Foreign agents have other political tools at their...