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.

Why Democracy Declined in Turkey: The Role of Polarization

This post explains how pernicious polarization became a key driver of democratic erosion in Turkey by weakening institutions, increasing distrust, and making political cooperation difficult.

A Democracy in Costume

Venezuela still holds elections, but they stopped meaning anything a long time ago.

The Zambian Plot Twist: Citizens who beat dictatorship in the mask of law

It explores how Zambian citizens successfully unmasked ‘stealth authoritarianism’ and restored democracy through strategic participation in the 2021 election.

What the Removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy means for American Democracy

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

Despite once being hailed as a pillar of democracy and freedom, democracy in the United States has been under threat for a while. Political circumstances threaten American...

Is Guatemala’s Democratic Backsliding Reaching a Tipping Point?

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

There is great fear that Guatemala’s democracy is weakening beyond the point of return. Amid election fraud, Guatemala has turned into a country of chaos. The protests are...

The Women’s March: Protest, Participation, and Polarization by Paige Cook

Mar 20, 2019 | Saint Louis University

I found myself standing – marching – down Market Street in St. Louis on a cold January day for the third year in a row. Although the crowds seemed smaller than years past, it was still filled with...

Mr. Bolsonaro Comes to Washington

Mar 19, 2019 | American University

by Sarah Ampolsk “It’s an honor to be here after decades of anti-American presidents,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office today. Bolsonaro, often...

The Lawyers Who Did Not Break

Mar 19, 2019 | Rollins College

The U.S. legal system is withstanding the Trump onslaught. By David Brooks The New York Times February 21, 2019 A crucial question of the Trump years has always been: Will our institutions hold?...

How the Left Embraced Elitism

Mar 19, 2019 | Rollins College

The progressives’ Green New Deal centralizes power. by David Brooks New York Times February 11, 2019 Over the past generation, global capitalism has produced the greatest reduction in human poverty...

Gatekeeping doesn’t work, at least not in Austria by Alec Wood

Mar 19, 2019 | American University

On 26 January 2017 Alexander Van der Bellen, former party spokesman and chairman of the Greens, became the 9th president of the Federal Republic of Austria. For many, this was a sign that the...

United States’ Democracy and its Ambivalent Future by Daniel Caissie

Mar 12, 2019 | Suffolk University

Photo retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/9/5/16227700/hyperpartisanship-identity-american-democracy-problems-solutions-doom-loop Democracy was born in ancient Greece and its...

Stochastic Terrorism in Poland

Mar 12, 2019 | American University

By Conor Gleeson Stochastic terrorism is a term that rose to prominence in 2018 to describe the use of mass, public communication, against a particular individual or group, which incites or inspires...

Lebanon’s Growing Economic Crisis & The Role of Democratic Backsliding

Mar 11, 2019 | Suffolk University

Can quantitative data be the best indicator of a destabilizing democracy? Lebanon’s growing economic crisis may be the icing on the cake in terms of diagnosing the country’s past and present...

Can the opposition parties in Namibia overcome the political dominance of the SWAPO party? by Katrina Ramkissoon

Mar 11, 2019 | Suffolk University

Can a country who has only had democracy for less than three decades already begin facing democratic backsliding? Unfortunately, yes. This is the case for the African country Namibia which just...