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.

South Africa’s Democracy: Why Gradual Institutional Weakening and Public Distrust Matter

Democracy doesn't necessarily die suddenly. A country can continue to have elections, courts, political parties, and freedom of speech, but its democracy could gradually erode. I think South Africa is a great example of that. South Africa remains a democracy but...

Venezuela Still Had Elections. So, What Happened to Democracy?

Venezuela and Democratic Erosion When people imagine a democracy turning authoritarian, they often picture a military coup or a leader suddenly canceling elections. Venezuela shows that democratic decline can happen much more slowly. Elections, courts, legislatures,...

Bread in a Backsliding Circus? Broken Distributive Promises Fueling Indonesia’s Student Protests

Indonesia has long maintained a fragile relationship with democracy, teetering between dictatorship under Suharto until 1998, to becoming one of Asia’s most celebrated democratic success stories in the 2000s, and now again slowly backsliding towards authoritarianism...

The Slow Death of Democracy: How Tunisia Fell Back into One-Man Rule

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

When people think about how democracy dies, they often imagine violent military coups. However, in the modern world, democracy usually dies slowly, legally, and from...

The Court Takeover and Democracy: How Poland Lost Its Way

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

It is easy to think that a democracy ends when there is a military coup, a war, or another sudden event. But democracy can also become weaker slowly from inside the...

How Trump is undermining US democracy and doing away with the checks and balances meant to protect it.

Mar 30, 2026 | University of Houston

The United States Constitution is one of the world's oldest continually implemented constitutions. The document, consisting of seven articles and 27 amendments, has been the basis of the rule of law...

Iranian Sandbox: The Erosion of Trust in the United States

Mar 30, 2026 | University of Houston

The Trump administration has effectively shown to the country that we are subservient to other nations interests. The public lobbying alone by the Israeli government is immense, including the...

Ecuador’s Security Crisis and the Slow Erosion of Democracy

Mar 30, 2026 | University of Houston

Ecuador has been going through a serious crisis for some years now. The homicide rate jumped from 6 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 47 per 100,000 in 2023, which makes it hard for democracy to...

Look at What They Took From You: MAGA Polarization Through Social Media

Mar 30, 2026 | Arizona State University

The official White House X account sits at over four million followers. Created in January of 2025, the social media page’s bio reads: “The Golden Age of America Begins Now.” Like many other...

From Secularism to Islamic Authority: Democratic Backsliding in Bangladesh

Mar 30, 2026 | University of Houston

Democratic backsliding is often characterized by institutional weakness or polarizing incumbents, but what about the topic of backsliding due to religious proliferation? In countries like India,...

From Left to Right-Wing Populism: Can Argentina Survive Another Movement?

Mar 30, 2026 | University of Houston

In November 2023, self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei won the Argentinian presidency. His campaign ran on the promise of dismantling the existing political establishment that many...

Timor Leste: The Paradox of Democratic Fragility

Mar 30, 2026 | Arizona State University

Although Timor-Leste is often seen as a success in democracy in Southeast Asia, it still has deep-rooted structural issues that cause worries about a decline in democratic practices. Although the...

The United States of Stealth Authoritarianism

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

Are we really doing this? “America will continue our leadership in defense of human dignity, in defense of rules and norms, and in defense of freedom and liberty. There is too much at stake to do...

The United States’ War on Public Education

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

While the country shifts their focus to the newly erupting war in the Middle East they begin to turn their backs on the war happening on US soil. This war may not involve heavy weaponry and mass...