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.

The Judicial Branch’s Downfall

By ruling with bias, the Judicial Branch is overstepping its constitutional role and threatening the integrity of our separation of powers and system of checks and balances.

Israel’s Judicial Reforms: A Potential Danger to Democracy?

Israel’s suggested judicial reforms pose a risk to democratic checks and balances by undermining the independence of the judiciary, centralizing executive authority, and potentially weakening democratic principles, similar to what has been observed in countries like Poland.

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.

How Twitter’s Free Speech Policy for Populists Hurts American Democracy

Nov 29, 2022 | Boston University

On Thursday, October 27, 2022, Elon Musk officially closed his $44 billion deal to purchase the social media site Twitter. In the following weeks, he fired several of...

Vox, Populism, and Polarization: A Potential Threat to Spanish Democracy

Nov 28, 2022 | Boston University

The rise of populist far-right parties in Europe threatens the continent’s democracies. These parties are dangerous not only because they threaten the political status quo...

Severity of Curtailing Press Freedom in the Philippines: Is history repeating itself?

Dec 2, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Article 3, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines states that “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of the speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right...

Duterte’s Metamorphosis: From an Illiberal Democrat to an Authoritarian?

Dec 2, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Metamorphosis, a Greek word that means transformation in structure or substance by supernatural means. Like butterflies, “democratic” leaders have life stages too. Some leaders start as an illiberal...

Rebirth of Democracy or a More Chaotic Political Crisis in Bolivia?

Dec 2, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

The tension is still high and Morales’ supporters were claiming that Evo Morales was a victim of a coup drawn by the military and political enemies (right-wing politicians). The possibility of an...

The Courts & Democratic Erosion

Dec 2, 2019 | Salem State University

The political battlegrounds for the America’s courts spilt into national news coverage once more this past weekend when 86-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was briefly...

Xi Jinping’s Concentration Camps

Dec 2, 2019 | Salem State University

A humanitarian crisis is ongoing in the Chinese province of Xinjiang under President Xi Jinping. According to several reports, upwards of a million ethnic Muslims, the Uighurs, are detained in...

You Can’t Impeach a Messiah

Dec 2, 2019 | Salem State University

You Can’t Impeach a Messiah Officials from the Trump administration and the President himself have made fairly outlandish claims since Trump’s...

Are we looking at a future populist in the Philippines?

Dec 2, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

What was once crowded with huge amount of trash and foul-smelling sidewalks, the Divisoria district in the Philippines’ capital city, Manila, was cleared of street vendors just two days after Mayor...

Is There Judicial Independence in Duterte’s Philippines?

Dec 2, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

A review of salient cases that have been considered by the Supreme Court suggests a judiciary largely unwilling to rule against the president. Three years in his term, President Rodrigo Duterte has...

Beyond the Yellow and Red Politics of the Philippines

Nov 27, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

In the Philippine Politics, you either belong to a “Dilaw” [Yellow] camp or to a DDS [Diehard Duterte Supporter] camp. “Dilaw” is the disparaging term for the critics of the country’s leading...