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.

At What Point Does Protecting Democracy Become Undemocratic?

The classical understanding of democracy rests on the abstract concept of the “common good” and the idea that people elect representatives to carry out their collective will, a conception Schumpeter famously critiqued. While scholars tend to differ in the principles...
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Social Media is Bad for American Democracy

Social media hurts American Democracy. As Waldner and Lust describe, democracy relies on two forms of accountability to function. One is vertical accountability, meaning that citizens can hold officials accountable through elections, which pressures representatives to...
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States of Exception: The Successful Rejection of Executive Overreach in Chile

After storming to the presidency in the 2025 presidential elections,[1] Chilean President José Antonio Kast has wasted no time attempting to enact his campaign agenda. In August, the President presented the Chilean Congress with a reform to address organized crime and...
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Local Democracy in Action

Apr 13, 2019 |

Planning and Zoning Board: Winter Park, FL Emily Curran This past week I went to a Planning and Zoning Board meeting at the City Hall for the town of Winter Park, where Rollins College is located....

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The Ripple Effect by EJ Broker

Apr 13, 2019 |

This post is written in response to two articles in the April 13 print edition of The Economist, both under the Leaders section: ‘Israel’s election, Bibi the conjuror’ and ‘Elections in Indonesia,...

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