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 blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

The Illusion of Elections: How Authoritarian Power Undermines Democratic Legitimacy in Myanmar

This blog examines how elections in Myanmar, stripped of genuine competition, political freedoms, and popular consent, have failed to protect democracy and instead become instruments of authoritarian rule.

Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law and Quiet Death of Democratic Accountability

Georgia’s 2024 foreign agents law uses the language of transparency to legally constrain civil society, tilt electoral competition towards the incumbent Georgian Dream Party, and accelerate democratic backsliding despite domestic and international opposition.

The Boiling Point of Election Violence: Democratic Erosion in Tanzania

Once hailed for its relative stability in an otherwise politically volatile East Africa, Tanzania has exploded into violence and political protest following the controversial reelection of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

The Return of the Taliban to Afghanistan

Dec 11, 2022 | Suffolk University

In 1996, The Taliban emerged as the leader of Afghanistan after storming Kabul and overthrowing the Soviet-Backed president, Muhammed Najibullah. They rose to power under...

Polarizing Protests: Bolsonaro’s Defeat in Brazil

Dec 11, 2022 | Skidmore College

Three years ago, former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, stood behind bars, with his best years seemingly behind him. After being released in 2019 due...

The Women’s March: Protest, Participation, and Polarization by Paige Cook

Mar 20, 2019 | Saint Louis University

I found myself standing – marching – down Market Street in St. Louis on a cold January day for the third year in a row. Although the crowds seemed smaller than years past, it was still filled with...

Mr. Bolsonaro Comes to Washington

Mar 19, 2019 | American University

by Sarah Ampolsk “It’s an honor to be here after decades of anti-American presidents,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office today. Bolsonaro, often...

The Lawyers Who Did Not Break

Mar 19, 2019 | Rollins College

The U.S. legal system is withstanding the Trump onslaught. By David Brooks The New York Times February 21, 2019 A crucial question of the Trump years has always been: Will our institutions hold?...

How the Left Embraced Elitism

Mar 19, 2019 | Rollins College

The progressives’ Green New Deal centralizes power. by David Brooks New York Times February 11, 2019 Over the past generation, global capitalism has produced the greatest reduction in human poverty...

Gatekeeping doesn’t work, at least not in Austria by Alec Wood

Mar 19, 2019 | American University

On 26 January 2017 Alexander Van der Bellen, former party spokesman and chairman of the Greens, became the 9th president of the Federal Republic of Austria. For many, this was a sign that the...

United States’ Democracy and its Ambivalent Future by Daniel Caissie

Mar 12, 2019 | Suffolk University

Photo retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/9/5/16227700/hyperpartisanship-identity-american-democracy-problems-solutions-doom-loop Democracy was born in ancient Greece and its...

Stochastic Terrorism in Poland

Mar 12, 2019 | American University

By Conor Gleeson Stochastic terrorism is a term that rose to prominence in 2018 to describe the use of mass, public communication, against a particular individual or group, which incites or inspires...

Lebanon’s Growing Economic Crisis & The Role of Democratic Backsliding

Mar 11, 2019 | Suffolk University

Can quantitative data be the best indicator of a destabilizing democracy? Lebanon’s growing economic crisis may be the icing on the cake in terms of diagnosing the country’s past and present...

Can the opposition parties in Namibia overcome the political dominance of the SWAPO party? by Katrina Ramkissoon

Mar 11, 2019 | Suffolk University

Can a country who has only had democracy for less than three decades already begin facing democratic backsliding? Unfortunately, yes. This is the case for the African country Namibia which just...