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.

You Can’t Sit with Us: The Practice of Democratic Gatekeeping and How It Has Saved Democracies

At the 11th hour of the 2024 election many Republican politicians and members of congress took a stance against Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Through the “Republicans for Harris” tagline, they urged their supporters through various forms of appeals to vote...

The Erosion of an Already Weak Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Jovenel Moïse

Jovenel Moïse's presidency marked a dangerous shift from Haiti's already shaky democracy to overt authoritarianism. Delayed elections, unchecked abuse of executive power, and violent suppression of resistance became the norm. By the time of his assassination in 2021,...

Undermining the Feedback Loop: How Trump’s Educational Policies Hinder Democratic Accountability

In a larger trend of censoring opinions which the Trump administration views as undesirable, the Trump administration’s actions towards schools and universities has a negative impact on democracy as a whole. Such a system depends on the free transmission of...

Populism Is a Problem. More Democracy Is Not the Solution.

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

Trump’s brand of populism created the single most politically spectacular event in the US’s history, when the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021 to prevent...

La Guerra Contra Las Pandillas Asegura El Lugar Del Autoritario Presidente Bukele En Los Corazónes Salvadoreño (The War Against the Gangs Secures the Authoritarian President Bukele’s Place in the Hearts of the Salvadorans)

Oct 16, 2022 | Boston University

Salvadorean presidential candidate Nayib Bukele, of the Great National Alliance (GANA), speaks during the closing rally of his campaign in San Salvador, on January 26, 2019...

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...

Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

You Can’t Sit with Us: The Practice of Democratic Gatekeeping and How It Has Saved Democracies

The Erosion of an Already Weak Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Jovenel Moïse

Undermining the Feedback Loop: How Trump’s Educational Policies Hinder Democratic Accountability

Populism Is a Problem. More Democracy Is Not the Solution.

La Guerra Contra Las Pandillas Asegura El Lugar Del Autoritario Presidente Bukele En Los Corazónes Salvadoreño (The War Against the Gangs Secures the Authoritarian President Bukele’s Place in the Hearts of the Salvadorans)

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

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

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

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

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

Duterte’s Socialism to Rescue Lumad’s Plight? by Michelle Sto. Tomas @ University of the Philippines, Diliman

Voter Participation (Or Lack Thereof) and Democratic Erosion in Switzerland, by Valentina Wakeman at Yale University

Senator Strangelove, or: How Democrats Learned to Love the Bomb by Sam Sharman @ Georgia State University

Protests Do Nothing to Stop Violence Against Ukraine Journalists by Chelsea Bartley @ University of Memphis

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