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...

Could Packing the Supreme Court be the Beginning of the End?

Sep 13, 2024 | Ohio State University

If one day, the president of the United States decided to absolve the Supreme Court it is safe to say most citizens would be concerned about the health of the democracy....

Democrats Do Away With Democratic Practices?

Sep 13, 2024 | Ohio State University

The 2024 Presidential Election has taken a form different than any in history, many elements being questionable legitimacy and ethics wise, such as the substitution of...

Is Trump’s Acquittal by the Senate Another Step Towards Democratic Erosion?

Feb 14, 2020 | Boston University

It’s been clear since the moment Trump announced his campaign that political norms would be thrown out the window. From his brash and brazen tweets, to his refusal to release his tax returns as a...

The Impeachment Trial: An Example of American Democracy Dying

Feb 14, 2020 | Boston University

Partisanship and polarization is killing democracy in the United States. Excessive polarization results in partisanship encroaching in institutions that are designed to maintain the system of checks...

Ireland’s Three-Way Tie is a Loss for Centrism and Win for Populism: Paving the Way for Democratic Erosion

Feb 13, 2020 | Boston University

Photo by Anna Church on Unsplash Ireland’s February 8th, 2020 national election ended in a virtual three-way tie between the dominant center right and center left parties, Fine Gael and Fianna...

Evaluating Potential Authoritarian Threats: Is French President Emmanuel Macron a Populist Leader?

Feb 13, 2020 | Boston University

Many consider National Front leader Marine Le Pen’s loss of the 2017 election a victory for the preservation of French democracy, as she is widely considered an anti-democratic populist. By Levitsky...

A Toll for Democracy: Why Thailand’s First Mass Shooting Should Be the Last Manifestation of Its Democratic Decay

Feb 13, 2020 | Boston University

Following the shocking mass shootingin the commercialized northeastern region of Thailand, Twitter trended with the hashtags “#ReformtheMilitary” and “#PrayuthRIP.” This public dissent for the...

How Mass Incarceration Threatens Democracy and Perpetuates Institutional Inequalities

Feb 12, 2020 | Boston University

While Kim Kardashian West reinvigorated the debate surrounding criminal justice reform outside of CNN or Washington, D.C. think tanks, the issue at hand is very prominent and detrimental to the...

Is Hungary Still a Democracy?

Feb 12, 2020 | Boston University

Viktor Orbán states how he is shaping an “illiberal democracy” in Hungary. He claims that “democracy is not necessarily liberal. Just because something is not liberal, it still can be a...

How Jair Bolsonaro’s Presidency Incites Democratic Erosion in Brazil

Feb 12, 2020 | Boston University

According to political scientist Juan J. Linz, the countries that are most vulnerable to democratic breakdowns are those that are relatively new democracies, and this is no exception for Brazil.[1]...

The Curious Case of Roger Stone

Feb 12, 2020 | Boston University

For centuries this country has operated on a system of checks and balances, ensuring that the only way democracy endures is through an understanding of each branch’s role and limitation. With the...