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
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
Purging Democracy: Voter Roll Purges and the Undermining of US Democracy
Oct 14, 2022 | Boston University
From 2014 to 2016, 16 million voters were removed from voter registration lists. Voter roll purges keep voting rolls accurate by canceling the registration of people who...
Italy’s Populist Experiment
Oct 14, 2022 | Boston University
The election of Italy's Giorgia Meloni brings to light decades old tensions between technocracy and democracy within EU countries. On September 26, 2022, Giorgia Meloni,...
Democracy not doing so well in Italy, can the Fascists win? by Leslie Gonzalez @ UCLA
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
Italy just had their political election and it did not go so well for the far left wing. Italy is at a political deadlock because groups such as Five-Star Movement received as many votes as the left...
Poland: Eastern Europe’s Trendsetter? by Justin Van Beurden @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
Once viewed as a source of inspiration for countries transitioning to democracy, Poland now appears as if it is representative of another political trend in Eastern Europe: democratic backsliding....
Populism in Greece by Carolina Armenta @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
Populism emerged in Greece for many reasons. The increase in refugees and government overspending of the nation's money to name the two biggest reasons. Greece is a country that does not put the...
KENYA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION EXEMPLIFIES THEIR DETERIORATION OF DEMOCRACY BY KEVIN KENDALL @ UCLA
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
Kenya's politics are public, equal, and free. In 1991, the transformation from a single party to a multiparty democracy was one of the biggest changes within their country. Kenya went from having...
Is it the End of Democracy for Cambodia? by Abigail Valdez @ University of California Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
On February 2017, the Cambodian People’s Party amended the Law on Political Parties to automatically dissolve any political party whose leader has criminal convictions [1]. The passing of this...
Venezuela’s Downward Spiral: A Look at Nicolás Maduro’s Corrupt Elections By Patrick French @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
What started with the defeat of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in the December 6, 2015 legislative election has turned into a full fledged attempt to consolidate power by president Maduro. The...
One Man’s Dominion in Moldova by Dan Zhukov @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
On July 20th, 2017, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova voted to adopt a new mixed electoral system that would replace the old proportional one. According to the proposal, voted for by 74...
“EU”-rosion in Poland by Emmanuel Iheke, Jr. @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
As we speak, Poland continues to take more and more steps away from the commonly held European Union tradition of democracy. This process - the erosion of democratic values and transition towards an...
The Threat Fake News Poses to Democracy and its Impact on the 2017 German Election by Caitlin Buckley @ University of California, Los Angeles
Mar 15, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles
As the 2017 September election approached, German Chancellor Angela Merkel found herself preparing to takeon a familiar entity on an unfamiliar scale. This entity, one that had already...