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....

Working Towards Building An Inclusive Democracy

Oct 20, 2022 | Suffolk University

“The 2020 Annual Freedom House Report finds that democracy, civil liberties, freedom, minority rights, and pluralism have been in decline globally for 14 consecutive years,...

The New GOP: Small-Government to Anti-Government

Oct 20, 2022 | Suffolk University

“I’m scared, Cameron. Things never used to be like this. They were never great but they’ve never been this bad.” This was my mom’s reaction to watching the news coverage of...

Countering Media Hegemony: The Perspective of Propaganda by Michelle Sto. Tomas @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

May 1, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

The purpose of hegemony of Antonio Gramsci to originally create discourse on the domination of the ruling elites to preserve power and control has evolved to how mass media have been used to...

Is Social Media Threat to Democracy? by Santosh K. Digal @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

Apr 29, 2018 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

We live in a digital world. "The use of social media has become ubiquitous, unlike before. The ease of use and constant accessibility is changing our social network and reshaping our political...

Crashing Through Democratic Guardrails by Jake Farris @American University

Apr 27, 2018 | American University

Guardrails of democracy ensure that everyone plays on the same field by creating an environment of general respect. One of the most important of these guardrails is mutual toleration. For the...

No More Parking Lot Gun Sales

Apr 27, 2018 | Georgia State University

The second amendment of the Bill of Rights does cause much controversy today. In modern American politics there are debates to abolish the second amendment, keep it unaltered,...

An Interesting Discussion about Immigration by Jonathan Gadea @ Georgia State University

Apr 27, 2018 | Georgia State University

I will be writing about my experience in class discussing the issue of immigration, among my fellow classmates. It was a very interesting experience. I found that almost everybody in the group had...

A First-Hand Account of Gun Control Compromise

Apr 27, 2018 | Georgia State University

American politics is dominated by the hot button issue mentality. In America’s political climate there is a divisiveness that draws a line between groups of citizens when it comes to certain issues,...

Can the Curtain Really Lift Over North Korea? by Dominique Kren @ American University

Apr 27, 2018 | American University

Sixty-five years ago, the Korean war was paused with a ceasefire, bringing about almost seven decades of intense hostility between the North and the South who, technically, have never ended the war...

March for Science from ad hoc protest to International Grassroots Movement -Soli Gebremichael @American University

Apr 26, 2018 | American University

I attended both March for Science (MFS) rallies in 2017 and 2018. This year’s March was conducted on April 14th, sunny Saturday, perfect to be in outdoors. The organizers invited more than 18...