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...

Sheinbaum’s Folly: How a Weak State Undermines Mexico’s Democracy

Oct 10, 2024 | Brown University

Draped in the green, white and red of the Presidential Sash, Claudia Sheinbaum, 62, delivered her inaugural speech as Mexico’s 66th President. “We are a free,...

Impairing Amparo: How Recent Constitutional Changes Undermine Mexican Democracy

Oct 9, 2024 | Brown University

Journalists and democracy advocates sounded the alarm last month as former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spent his final weeks in office pushing forward...

Emerging Technology and Eroding Democracy?

Apr 8, 2020 | Utah State University

The rapid expansion of technology has, generally, been viewed as a positive development for global communication. Technological growth is expected to increase public accessibility and help citizens...

A Dangerous Game: Campaigning for The Expansion of Executive Power

Apr 8, 2020 | Utah State University

The United States democracy has been upheld by the Constitution and within it the separation of powers. Those powers were created by the Framers to uphold the Constitution and to bring forth a more...

How Religious Representation Erodes Democracy in Lebanon

Apr 7, 2020 | Utah State University

After decades of sectarian rule, the people of Lebanon have had enough. Since the end of the First World War, and the beginning of the French presence in the country, they have been living in a...

Trump’s Authoritarian Tendencies and its Relation to Covid-19

Apr 7, 2020 | Boston University

With 330,891 current cases of Covid-19, this virus has affected people in every aspect of life from elections to employment. Trump has engaged in various activities that can be considered...

Democracy’s enemy within

Apr 7, 2020 | Rollins College

The Economist August 31st 2019 Democracy’s enemy within Cynicism is gnawing at Western democracies Democracies are generally thought to die at the barrel of a gun, in coups and revolutions. These...

Combatting Cynicism: The Great Threat to American Democracy

Apr 7, 2020 | Rollins College

The United States has always been characterized by optimism and progress, embedded in our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Unfortunately, negativity has been slowly...

Targeted Political Ads Aren’t the Only Thing Social Media Uses to Affect Politics

Apr 6, 2020 | Rollins College

A response to “Policing Propaganda.“ The role of social media in politics came to the forefront during the 2016 United States presidential election. Instead of waiting for the headlines and watching...

Social Media Manipulation: The Threat to Democracy and How to Correct it

Apr 6, 2020 | Rollins College

In the Economist article, “Policing Propaganda,” one of the major threats to democracy stems from one of its key supporting agents, the news, or rather through its manipulation, which can alter the...

How digital politics regulation by lawmakers could affect democracy.

Apr 6, 2020 | Rollins College

About a hundred years ago the invention of the telegraph not only facilitated long-distance communication but also did “a lot to clean up politics” as mentioned in the New York Times. It...