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.

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear By Fotios E. Meimeteas Imagine you are a single mother in the United States, raising four children who depend on you. You have established a new life, built a home, paid taxes, and lived in the United States for...

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...

Party Labels and the Courts: Ohio’s Shift Toward a Partisan Judiciary

Oct 16, 2024 | Ohio State University

On September 4th, I attended an Ohio College Democrats’ meeting and listened to Judge Lisa Forbes speak. She is currently running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court as a...

City Council: A Perfect Storm for Democratic Erosion

Oct 16, 2024 | Ohio State University

When it comes to the city council, how much do they do? What are the inner workings of a city’s council? What are the positions of the members of the city council? Are city...

Death (of Democracy) by Mainstream Media by Tory Bouchillon

May 4, 2020 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

If there is one thing history teaches us, it is that societies are more vulnerable during a time of crisis. Widespread panic is the quickest way to make people give up their rights voluntarily, and...

“Let My People Go Surfing ”- Social Distancing

May 3, 2020 | Suffolk University

Can Coronavirus Lead to Terrorism in a Consociational Democracy? Case of Lebanon

May 1, 2020 | Bilkent University

For a long time, Lebanon has been synonymous for civil conflicts and sectarian clientelism; Lebanese citizens never had a high level of solidarity and sympathy across their various sects and...

Ramadan and COVID19 – troublesome times for Niger

May 1, 2020 | Georgia State University

Niger had already been grappling with insecurity and poverty, not it has been dealt severe blows stemming by the coronavirus. Primarily, Niger is one of the poorest nations in the world. Many...

Jamaica’s decline in democracy: Who is responsible?

Apr 30, 2020 | Georgia State University

Jamaica’s democracy experienced three declines between 2010 and 2019. Specifically these declines began in 2011, 2015, and 2017. Within each decline Jamaica experienced either: vertical corruption,...

Political Corruption Sparks Civic Engagement in the Dominican Republic

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

The Dominican Republic is a fairly new democracy, emerging as recently as the late nineties through collaboration between the Christian Reform Party and the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 1994...

American Authoritarianism and Polarization in the Trump Era

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

An impeachment witness is now an ex-government employee after President Trump asserted his borderline tyrannical presidential powers to remove his political adversaries. 2020 has already been a year...

Trump– Hero or Nero

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

In my lifetime, democracy has been heralded as the premier form of governance. The will of the individual in concert with others legislates their prerogatives. Historically, democracy has manifested...

Tale of the Tape: Catalonia vs. Spain

Apr 29, 2020 | Georgia State University

In 1978, the death of the execrable dictator Francisco Franco left Spain at a crossroads: either embrace ethnolinguistic regionalism and form several independent states or unite under a common flag....