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...

Buying Injustice: The Hidden Harms of this Act.

Are we looking to create a thriving society, or are we allowing fear into the lives of immigrant families? As new immigration policies appear, the question become, how do we prevent the changes that involve separating families and dismantling the place that...

Democracy Hijacked: Sudan’s Descent from Prospective Democracy into Authoritarian Rule

Nov 4, 2024 | Ohio State University

Sudan was a country with a prosperous democratic future in 2019, yet today the nation remains worse off than it initially began. With significant military violence and a...

El Salvador’s Security Crackdown: A Path to Authoritarianism?

Nov 4, 2024 | Ohio State University

In the last two years, El Salvador has witnessed an unprecedented state-led crackdown on gang violence under President Nayib Bukele. The policies, which include mass...

Coronavirus’ Chinese Paradox: Crushing or Renewing Hopes for Democratization?

Oct 13, 2020 | Brown University

In the past twenty years, the world has been asking itself “will China democratize”? However, the Chinese Communist Party under President Xi has been doing so well that the debate had died down…...

A Shadow Pandemic: Domestic Violence Exacerbated by COVID-19

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

While COVID-19 has transformed life internationally, a “shadow pandemic” of domestic violence is occurring simultaneously (Godoy). Social isolation, as a result of self-quarantine and government...

The Culprit in Chile: The Living Legacy of U.S. Imperialism

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

On October 2, a police officer pushed a teenage protestor off a bridge in Santiago, Chile. This is only the most recent act of brutality in the now yearlong pro-democracy protests in Chile. Citizens...

Reshuffling “Bad Apples”: Mexico’s Issue With Security

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his promises of maintaining security have been minimal at best as Mexico reached an all-time high of homicides in 2019 and has experienced recent increased...

Beyond Electoral Fraud: Rooting Bolivia’s Coup in a History of Clientelism and Repression

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

The Bolivian coup d’etat against Evo Morales was not, and should not be examined solely as, the result of a fraudulent election. To suggest this erases the deep entrenchment of Bolivia’s neo-fascist...

The Necessity for Responsible Reporting on Crime in Mexico

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

You may not realize it, but the news media plays an enormous role in shaping how the public views and responds to crime. As Vincent Sacco states in his paper, “Media Constructions of Crime”, the way...

Migrant Caravans, U.S. Intervention, and the Case of Honduras

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

AFP/Getty, October 2018 You have likely come across the striking wide-shot, panoramic depictions of a blurred mass of bodies on the move. Blocking entire roads as far as the eye can see and...

Color, Corruption, and COVID-19: South Africa’s Democratic Balancing Act

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

A nation’s economy contracts by 51% in three months. Blatant corruption severely undermines the legitimacy of a country’s most prominent political party. Racial unrest and an increasingly fraught...

An Alternative to Militarization: Building Public Infrastructure to Fight Crime

Oct 12, 2020 | Brown University

The intuitive approach to deterring criminal behavior is to punish it. But what if legal behavior were instead incentivized such that criminal activity lost some of its relative appeal? Years of...