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.

Shaking Up Democracy: Is Mexico’s 2024 Judicial Reform Democratic Backsliding?

Is Mexico’s 2024 Judicial Reform Democratic Backsliding?

When Violence Breaks the Surface: The Kirk Incident as a Warning for American Democracy

By Stavros Ligris The shooting of Charlie Kirk during a university event in Utah this September has been described as shocking, tragic, and destabilizing. But it should also be understood as part of a larger pattern of democratic decline in the United States. What...

First 100 Days, More Like First 100 Hours: How Trump’s First 100 Days Played Out Against Trump’s Second 100 Hours

Indiana Senator Jim Banks, a staunch Trump ally, predicted that President Trump’s return to power would be characterized by “shock and awe.” In many ways, the events of President Trump’s first 100 hours in office during his second term have lived up to that promise....

Disbelief in Democratic Systems Starts with Election Fraud

Nov 1, 2022 | Boston University

Trump’s election as president was historic for many reasons, not only in that he seems...

The Media Politician: Marcos and the Philippines’ Democratic Erosion

Nov 1, 2022 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Despite the appearances and active updates on social media of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his plan for the Philippine government to provide a solution for...

“Ukraine’s Path Dependent Democracy: Unintended Consequences of Transitional Democratic Institutions” by Minch Cerrero @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 18, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Ukraine prides itself with three revolutions - 1991 independence from Russia, 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Euromaidan. These historical junctures are inextricably linked to Ukraine’s...

“Mr. President, It Is Not Entirely Your Fault Why the Philippines Suffers from Illiberal Democracy” by Minch Cerrero @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 18, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Duterte’s authoritarian tendencies cannot be plainly framed as symptomatic of the changing times. His exercise of democracy, that is occasionally illiberal, is a product of the confluence of three...

WHY MODI FEELS LIKE CHÁVEZ BY SANTOSH K. DIGAL @ UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN

May 18, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi belong to two different generations, contexts, and continents. They were reared in very different social, cultural,...

Combatting a Taboo: considering Alternatives to Democracy? – By Mathias PENGUILLY @ Georgia State University

May 16, 2018 | Georgia State University

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, we have been conditioned to believe that democracy was eternal and that no other system could triumph against it. The Western powers...

Removal of Chief Justice Sereno, Slippery Slope or a Mere Continuation of the Politicized Judiciary? By Hannah Frances C. Bodegon @University of the Philippines-Diliman

May 16, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

On May 12, eight justices namely Teresita de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes, and Alexander Gesmundo voted in favor to remove...

Nicaragua’s April 19 Movement – the End of Daniel Ortega’s Presidency? By Hannah Frances C. Bodegon @ University of the Philippines-Diliman

May 15, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

In mid-April, a spate of protests led by students around the cities of Nicaragua, starting in the capital city of Managua, erupted over President Ortega’s social security reform. Such reform...

Conveying Democracy in Kenya: An Attempt to Discourse Analysis by Michelle Sto. Tomas @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 15, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Kenya has been under authoritarianism for quite some years now and still prevalent under the presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta. Authoritarianism, in Kenya’s case, seems to have resulted into a domino...

In Indonesia’s 2019 Election, Democracy Stands at the Crossroads by Michael Manangu @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 12, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

On April 17, 2019, Indonesia will hold its presidential and local elections simultaneously for the first time in history. The presidential election will likely be a rematch of 2014, a highly...

Why the Philippines Should Draw Lessons from South Korean Democracy by Patricia Villa @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 12, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

To what extent should impeachments be exercised in democracies? South Korea and the Philippines offer two opposing answers. In a Washington Post op-ed, Christian Caryl argued that South Korea had...