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.

Donald Trump the Nazi Reincarnate?: Godwin’s Law and How This Phenomenon is Counterproductive to Understanding Democratic Erosion

What do we hope to accomplish when comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, a tyrannical perpetrator of genocide?

The Russia-Ukraine War Bodes Poorly for Democracy, But Not in the Way You Think

The Russia-Ukraine War is a serious threat to global democracy through the growing wave of isolationism in the United States, an entity that has typically been at the forefront of fighting authoritarianism across the world.

The Trump Administration’s Attack on USAID

The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID, increase concerns about democratic backsliding as it could result in a trend with the executive undermining institutional legitimacy.

When Did Velvet Become Steel? Armenian Authoritarianism Is Now Far More Subtle but No Less Dangerous

Aug 24, 2022 | Dartmouth College

In 2018, many in the West predicted that the resignation of Armenia’s pro-Moscow autocrat Serzh Sargsyan and election of self-proclaimed reformist Nikol Pashinyan would...

Election Denialism as an Instrument of Democratic Erosion

Aug 7, 2022 | University of Denver

The most pronounced assault on American democracy is a consortium of three erosive acts proceeding President Trump’s defeat in the 2020 Presidential Election; First, Trump’s...

THE WAR (I THOUGHT) WE WON BY IAN FOWLER @ GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Apr 12, 2018 | Georgia State University

There are Nazis in America. We fought a war against them back in the 1940s. World War 2 to be precise. From what I remember of American history, I thought we had won that war. The few past decades...

Democratic backsliding in the nascent democracy of Poland by Shannon Flores @Yale University

Apr 11, 2018 | Yale University

Since the fall of the Polish United Worker’s Party in 1989, Poland has been a model democratic nation. It’s vibrant press, political parties, and free-market economy, combined with its clout as an...

Political clans and family ties erode the institutional system in The Philippines by Woeser Dolma @ Skidmore College

Apr 11, 2018 | Skidmore College

Colonialism created the Philippines political system embedded on socio-economic elites whom profited from political positions. Historically, the Philippines political elites became corrupt because...

Kasim Hafeez: From Hate to Hope @ University of Memphis

Apr 10, 2018 | University of Memphis

On April 9th I attended From Hate to Hope with Kasim Hafeez at the University of Memphis. Kasim Hafeez is a man who was born to Pakistani Muslim parents in the U.K. He was raised to hate the state...

Repealing Net Neutrality Reduces Freedom of Speech by Ronald Schaming @ University of Memphis

Apr 9, 2018 | University of Memphis

December 14, 2017: Federal Communications Commission voted to allow the creation of ‘Internet Fast-Lanes’ by repealing Obama Administration Net Neutrality policies. The former policy prevented...

Oscillating Factor of Middle Class in Democracy by Santosh K. Digal @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

Apr 7, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Every society has some form of inequality. The trajectory of class based on the economy is complex. One of the ways of inequality is said to be based on economy or purchasing power. The slabs for...

Losing the Liberation? Democratic Erosion in South Africa by Wabantu Hlophe @ Yale University

Apr 6, 2018 | Yale University

Since the transition to full democracy in 1994, South Africa has experienced limited democratic erosion, driven by extreme racial inequality, outsized policy influence from the private sector and...

From Poster Child of Liberalism to “Illiberal State”: Viktor Orban and the Fall of Hungarian Democracy by Christopher Taylor @ Yale University

Apr 4, 2018 | Yale University

On July 30, 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban boldly declared that “the new state we are constructing in Hungary is an illiberal state.” Coming only three months after Orban’s Fidesz party...

Populism resurgent? Evaluating the rise of American populism through the 2018 GOP Race for Connecticut Governor by Christopher Taylor @ Yale University

Apr 4, 2018 | Yale University

On February 21, 2018, three hundred people crowded into a high school auditorium in West Haven, Connecticut to hear a debate between the eight Republican candidates for Governor. With incumbent...