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.

Fighting Fake News: Lessons from the World’s Top Target

2018 was a year of awakening in Taiwan. Two high-profile events threw the consequences of fake news into relief. First, Su Chii-cherng, the envoy to Osaka for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, took his own life in September 2018 after false reports about him...

Can Democracies Wait Another 2,500 Years to Meet Today’s Needs?

In 500 BC, during Athens' golden age of democracy, the voting age was set at 18. Over 2,500 years later, this threshold remains the same in the vast majority (90%) of countries. However, as democracies grapple with rising populism, authoritarianism, marginalization of...

Présidence Impériale: Executive Aggrandizement in Macron’s France

Amidst significant challenges to France’s democracy, President Emmanuel Macron has ignored democratic norms and abused constitutional articles to expand his own power—periling France’s democracy.

The 2024 Illuminati Election

Ohio State University

“I’ll talk to you the minute you stop killing children,” he proclaims as he closes the door in our faces. My roommate, a public policy major, has been interning as a...

Ecuador on the Edge

Brown University

Once considered among the most stable countries in Latin America, Ecuador has been rocked by a surge of gang-related violence in the last few years. The homicide rate has...

Democracy Backsliding and Myanmar Migrants in Thailand

School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

Myanmar experience long lasting civil war and many people escape to the neighboring countries to find safety life and seek to refuges. According to the International Labor Organization report in...

What the Exodus of Election Officials Means for Democratic Erosion

University of Pennsylvania

Amid growing violent threats and increasing administrative burdens, a surge in resignations among local election officials signals trouble for U.S. democracy. In the aftermath of the 2020 election,...

Populism’s Erosion of Israeli Politics: A Müller Analysis of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Impact

Boston University

In his book "What is Populism," Jan-Werner Müller presents a nuanced definition of populism that emphasizes its anti-pluralist, exclusionary nature and appeal to the chosen people against a corrupt...

The Threat of Extreme Partisanship in the Post-Trump Era: Warnings from the Ouster of Kevin McCarthy

Boston University

On October 3rd, 2023, Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the House of Representatives in a 216-210 vote, becoming the first person in American history to ever be removed from the position. ...

India’s Free Speech Censorship is Ruining Democracy

Boston University

India’s democratic backsliding has been a topic of concern for many decades. However, in recent years, the censorship of free speech in particular has led to detrimental social consequences,...

American Democracy and The Supreme Court

Boston University

With recent discussion in the news surrounding the potential adoption of an “ethics code” or other code of conduct for the US Supreme Court, the question of its role in US democracy is once again a...

Guatemalan mass protests question if populism is all bad

Boston University

On October 2nd, mass citizen protests erupted in Guatemala related to Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras’s efforts to undermine the results of the country’s recent presidential election in favor...

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism: Democratic Erosion in Spain, Italy, and Sweden

Boston University

The COVID-19 pandemic has globally affected many things, one of which is the powers that hold congressional power in many countries. Many countries with democracies or core democratic elements, such...

Democratic Erosion Causes In Israel

Boston University

An analysis of democratic backsliding in Israel that have led to today This post analyzes the structures from both a societal standpoint and a structural standpoint in Israel over the last few...

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