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...

The New(er) Order: Subianto’s ties to Authoritarianism

May 1, 2024 | Ursinus College

Indonesia’s next president, Prabowo Subianto, won the recent election backed by current president Joko Widodo, due to his choice of running mate: Widodo’s son, Gibran...

Social Inequality, Polarization, and Jokowi

Apr 30, 2024 | Ursinus College

Indonesia has a complex history of social cleavages which has marked periods of polarization and unity. In recent years, pluralist and Islamic elements across Indonesia have...

The Core of Democracy in a Community by Baylee Gunnells

Apr 27, 2019 | Georgia State University

The Core of Democracy in a Community The input that a community has in programs and services that are offered by the county presents the ideologies of democratic norms. Thus, stated in...

Day at the Georgia Capitol by Zyion Butts

Apr 27, 2019 | Georgia State University

Remember the song about Bills? From Schoolhouse rock? That’s exactly what I was thinking while walking through the Georgia Capitol on Crossover day. Since taking my Global Issues course this Spring...

Can America’s Bipartisan Framework Guard Against Populism? By Noa Levin

Apr 27, 2019 | University of Chicago

Despite a few close calls, the United States has never truly succumbed to populism. Now, the election of Donald Trump has challenged the American democratic framework’s resilience to populism. Many...

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump: Not One and the Same

Apr 26, 2019 | University of Chicago

In many ways, the 2016 U.S. presidential election cycle was a rollercoaster of the unexpected, rocking the American public. With the 2020 elections looming in the not-so-distant future,...

Erdogan’s Usage of Explicit and Subtle Authoritarian Control by Charlotte Bairey

Apr 26, 2019 | University of Chicago

The recent upholding of a Turkish court’s decision to convict dissenting journalists demonstrates that, in the case of Turkey, the use of explicitly anti-democratic politics is woven in with a...

President Magufuli Could Wipe Out an Already Flawed Democracy in Tanzania by Kalif Robinson

Apr 26, 2019 | Georgetown University

Tanzania’s flawed democracy is turning into a brutal dictatorship. In 2015, President of Tanzania John Magufuli rode into power on a populist wave fueled by people’s dissatisfaction with corruption....

How students feel about Trump?

Apr 26, 2019 | Georgia State University

On Thursday February 28th, I attended a meeting by a Georgia State organization called Realize. The organization is a comfort zone for students to be able to voice their opinions without being...

Polluting the Polity: Is an Informed Citizenry Essential to Democracy? by Kenneth Coleman

Apr 26, 2019 | University of Chicago

Muller posits that, in order to hold an accountable government, "it is crucial that citizens be well informed about politics" [1]. There is a common sense truth to this statement. A democracy is,...

America, Disenfranchised: How the Electoral College Has Failed the United States

Apr 26, 2019 | Sacramento State University

By Aaron Walters There is no doubt that recent phenomenon in the United States have fostered a greater degree of institutional reflection in which the general public is now blatantly aware that the...