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.

First 100 Days, More Like First 100 Hours: How Trump’s First 100 Days Played Out Against Trump’s Second 100 Hours

Indiana Senator Jim Banks, a staunch Trump ally, predicted that President Trump’s return to power would be characterized by “shock and awe.” In many ways, the events of President Trump’s first 100 hours in office during his second term have lived up to that promise....

History Repeats: Why Strong Global Defense is Key to Preventing Autocracy

A strong and consistent global defense by democratic nations is crucial to preventing the rise of autocratic regimes, as history shows—from the Cold War doctrines to the failed democratization of Afghanistan—that without committed follow-through and structural reform, authoritarian forces will exploit weaknesses and reclaim power.

Women in Political Dynasties: The Illusion of Choice and Democratic Erosion in the Philippines

Political dynasties have long controlled Philippine politics, with powerful families passing down leadership positions across generations. Despite the imposition of term limits discouraging dynastic rule, these families have found their way around the constitutional...

Serbia: A case of Competitive Authoritarianism

Jan 5, 2023 | Sabanci University

Serbia: A case of Competitive Authoritarianism After the fall of Milosevic in 2000, democratization process started in Serbia. Along with institutional reforms and...

Hong Kong, mass protests and their fight against autocratization

Jan 4, 2023 | Sabanci University

In Hong Kong, an unusual kind of protesting started in 2014. Marked by singing and yellow umbrellas, quickly the young students that represented Hong Kong’s peaceful...

Making Sense of Imperial Manila: The Philippine Rural-Urban Divide in the Era of Rodrigo Duterte

Dec 9, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

The 30th South East Asian Games (SEA Games) hosted by the Philippines in 2019 have caused social cleavages to resurface at a time when the host nation should be presenting a united front. Trouble...

Mayor of Manila: A Portrait of Populism as Performativity

Dec 9, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Last September, I started a new job in Manila City. Despite having lived right next to it for all of my adult life, spending most of my waking hours in a new city – the country’s capital – has taken...

Is orange ever a possibility in Thai politics?

Dec 9, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Thailand is the country that has had the most number of coups in modern history. This says a lot about how troubled Thai politics is and how deep polarization occurs in this relatively progressive...

The Destruction of Democracy In Honduras By Jackeline Sosa

Dec 8, 2019 | Georgia State University

Has Honduras failed to uphold the upmost value of Democracy, while submitting into the hands of Dictatorship? Honduran voters got an unexpected end result when two presidential competitors asserted...

Hong Kong Protests by Max Tewksbury

Dec 8, 2019 | Georgia State University

Throughout history, democracies have worked and fallen. Venezuela and North Korea are examples of this. Great Britain gained control of Hong Kong on January 25, 1841, and maintained Hong Kong until...

A Game of (Presidential) Thrones: The Burgeoning Alliances in Venezuela’s Ongoing Political Crisis

Dec 7, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Much like the warring families in George R.R. Martin’s bestselling fiction series Game of Thrones, Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro have allies from beyond their borders which, like in the ending...

What current events in China tell us about the future of civil disobedience?

Dec 6, 2019 | Salem State University

In the largest leak ever to come out of Beijing, 400 pages of classified government documents were leaked to Western media sources. These documents provide an unprecedented look into the Chinese...

Turkey’s invasion of Syria: A democratic crisis

Dec 5, 2019 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Ras al-Ayn bombing on October 10, 2019. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. When United States President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops in northern Syria in October, chaos and...

The Trump of the Tropics

Dec 4, 2019 | Salem State University

How Bolsonaro takes Trump's extremes to the extreme On the rise of a certain president, Brian Winter, editor in Chief of Americas Quarterly, remarks that, in a politically divisive election year, “…...