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.

You Can’t Sit with Us: The Practice of Democratic Gatekeeping and How It Has Saved Democracies

At the 11th hour of the 2024 election many Republican politicians and members of congress took a stance against Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Through the “Republicans for Harris” tagline, they urged their supporters through various forms of appeals to vote...

The Erosion of an Already Weak Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Jovenel Moïse

Jovenel Moïse's presidency marked a dangerous shift from Haiti's already shaky democracy to overt authoritarianism. Delayed elections, unchecked abuse of executive power, and violent suppression of resistance became the norm. By the time of his assassination in 2021,...

Undermining the Feedback Loop: How Trump’s Educational Policies Hinder Democratic Accountability

In a larger trend of censoring opinions which the Trump administration views as undesirable, the Trump administration’s actions towards schools and universities has a negative impact on democracy as a whole. Such a system depends on the free transmission of...

Arrested, Dead, or with Victory

Nov 10, 2022 | Skidmore College

"Só saio, preso, morto ou com vitória" Originally in Portuguese, Brazil’s presidential incumbent promises what will occur after the election. President Jair Bolsonaro told...

1922 in 2022: The Return of the Far Right in Italy

Nov 10, 2022 | Skidmore College

The polls have closed; the votes have been tallied; the election is over -- Giorgia Meloni, head of the far-right Brothers of Italy Party is the country’s next prime...

President of the Board of Alderman Debate: The Wake Up by Taylor Williams

Feb 28, 2019 | Saint Louis University

Recently, the Board of Alderman of Saint Louis hosted a debate at Harris-Stowe State Universityin the Henry Givens...

Big and small issues converge at local city council meeting by John Barrett

Feb 28, 2019 | Saint Louis University

On Monday, February 11th, citizens of a St. Louis suburb braved the cold temperatures and sleeting weather to voice their concerns on the state of affairs within their own community. In hoping to...

Woman March 2019 by Susmitha Chinni

Feb 28, 2019 | Saint Louis University

Going to a women’s march on a frigid mid-west winter day is the last thing one would want to do. So why would hundreds of women march down the streets of St. Louis despite the cold? Because the St....

Lessons in Democracy from Local Government by Caleb Logan

Feb 28, 2019 | Saint Louis University

On Tuesday, February 12, I attended the Maplewood City Council meeting. The City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the Maplewood City Hall in Maplewood, Missouri. The...

Missouri’s Master Manipulators Amending Election Results, Again by Paige Cook

Feb 28, 2019 | Saint Louis University

When discussing democracy, it is often referred to in the national or international sense, more specifically, in the notion of an entire governmental system. The theory of democracy brings about...

Town Halls and Cooperation by Brett Jones

Feb 27, 2019 | Saint Louis University

Often when we talk about the democratic processes in this country, most discussion dissects politics at the national or international level. Occasionally there are conversations, particularly in the...

Xi’s China or Chinese Xi: Critical Evaluations of Charisma among Chinese Leaderships by Zitian Sun

Feb 27, 2019 | American University

Did Chinese Constitution Revision Make Xi A Dictator? On March 11, 2018, a CNN reporter, Matt Rivers, called the latest Chinese constitutional revision the “coronation of a brand-new...

Can Reversion and Retrogression Work Together to Topple a Democracy?: Ortega’s Nicaragua by Riham Amin

Feb 26, 2019 | American University

When Daniel Ortega won his first term of presidency in 1984, he won as a champion of Nicaragua’s then newly established...

The Politicization of the Cabinet and Agencies: How Trump’s Appointments Bypass Democracy by Michael Caulfield

Feb 25, 2019 | Boston University

During Trump’s presidency, the appointments that he has made have been considered suspect at best. As opposed to the appointment of those who have the best interest of the country at heart,...