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.

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...

Buying Injustice: The Hidden Harms of this Act.

Are we looking to create a thriving society, or are we allowing fear into the lives of immigrant families? As new immigration policies appear, the question become, how do we prevent the changes that involve separating families and dismantling the place that...

Expanded Inclusion, Weakened Representation: The Partylist System Decline and Philippine Democratic Erosion

May 24, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

The Philippine partylist system in 2024, based on current composition alone, is a far cry from its incarnation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In place of having...

The Pink Movement: Restoring or Polarizing Democracy in the Philippines?

May 23, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Antecedent to Leni Robredo’s declaration of her presidential candidacy in the 2022 Philippine elections, a vibrant pink becomes a beacon of hope initiating a people-led...

Democratic Backsliding via an Eroding Middle Class by Kenneth Coleman

May 5, 2019 | University of Chicago

In Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Acemoglu and Robinson present the role of the middle class in the formation and continuity of democracy. Since democracy forms as a "response to a...

The Threat to Voting Rights in Florida by Meghan Ward

May 5, 2019 | University of Chicago

Last November, Florida restored voting rights to 1.4 million of its citizens when it passed Florida Amendment 4, which ended disenfranchisement of felons who had served their time. In a state that...

Bolsonaro’s Brazil: What The Election of Jair Bolsonaro Means for The Future of Democracy by Catherine Browder

May 5, 2019 | Georgia State University

In a world that is constantly evolving, people around the world are turning to leaders who quell their fear of instability and change. Since the creation of government, democratic or otherwise,...

The Spin Zone by Max Krause

May 5, 2019 | University of Chicago

Information accessibility has only expanded in the era of the internet, mass media television, and big data firms. Yet surprisingly, the relationship between reality and the masses's interpretation...

Polarization in Poland by Anjali Nahata

May 5, 2019 | University of Chicago

History can be circular in parts of Europe. The divide that has severed Polish politics is very similar to the divide that split France during the Dreyfus affair. The rhetoric employed by the...

The Erosion of Democracy in Venezuela by Brieana Burke

May 5, 2019 | Georgia State University

Democracy was a damaged project in Latin America before the current crisis in Venezuela. Military coups d’état and other violent seizures of power in the 1960s and 1970s were followed by weak...

Sudan: Dictator Overthrown, Democracy is far from Near. By Cynthia Mejia

May 5, 2019 | Sacramento State University

In December 2018 the Sudanese government imposed emergency austerity measures and a sharp currency devaluation. This was their way of trying to avoid an economic collapse, which was influenced by...

Rodrigo Duterte: A “Law and Order” President, with Criminal Intentions by Sara Rosendorf

May 4, 2019 | Georgia State University

“The Punisher,” “Dirty Harry,” “Trump of the Philippines.” These are just a few of the nicknames given to controversial Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, and for good reason. You might think that...

The Insidiousness of the Extreme Right in Austria by Alec Wood

May 4, 2019 | American University

It’s not every day that Austrian and American politics intersect. Monday morning, April 30, 2019, reporting from Vice News revealed that the Kootenai County Republican Committee unanimously passed a...