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.

Arresting Opposition and Squashing Protests: Democratic Backsliding in Turkey Under Erdoğan

Turkey has been inching towards autocracy under Erdoğan and the AKP for the last 22 years.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that nearly 40% of voters are still undecided on who to vote for. After all, most voters already cast...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The Boston Globe urging readers to “Get ready to protest like democracy depends on it.” The article was in...

Roe v. Wade and The Supreme Court’s Role in Democracy

Jun 10, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

In a leaked majority opinion briefing, written by Justice Samuel Alito, it has come to light that the Supreme Court will vote to overturn the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade....

What Russia’s Fake News Campaign Teaches Us About Democracy

Jun 10, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

Protests at Russian embassy in Bangkok, Thailand Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images The role of fake news is one which has evolved over the past years and in the case of Russia and...

American Self-Determination is a Dish Best Served Non-Homogeneous by Jose @ Columbia University

Feb 14, 2018 | Columbia University

We are a nation; therefore, we have a right to self-determination. However, not all sociopolitical circumstances are created equally, thus debilitating our agency to define our present and...

Who are Narendra Modi’s “Brothers” and “Sisters” Conveyed in His Visual Populism? By Ruchi Kirtikar @ Columbia University

Feb 14, 2018 | Columbia University

“Friends… countrymen, lend me your ears.” William Shakespeare’s famous line from his play Julius Caesar is one of the oldest mimicking the rhetoric of the “relatable” politician. Nowadays, words...

Thailand: The consequences of a disloyal opposition by Lam Chi Tun @ Columbia University

Feb 14, 2018 | Columbia University

On the 10th of February, around 400 protestors gathered near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to protest against the military junta currently ruling Thailand. They called on the military rulers to...

Lending an Ear to Ukrainian Populism

Feb 14, 2018 | Columbia University

As Ukraine waits to recover from the social unrest sparked by 2014’s Maidan Revolution and pro-Russian unrest in the Donbas region, it has become painfully evident that eradicating the corrupt...

Media Attack in Namibia: A Symbol of Democratic Erosion by Ebenezer Akomolafe @ University of Memphis

Nov 28, 2017 | University of Memphis

Namibia is one of the youngest democracies in Africa, is also among the top leading countries in terms of freedom of the press since her independent in 1990. During the colonial administration, laws...

The Filibuster and the Courts: How Bureaucracy Prevents Democratic Erosion by Dakota Fenn @ Brown University

Nov 27, 2017 | Brown University

When we think of the filibuster, we likely alternatively picture a glorious stand against the tyranny of the majority, or a waste of time created by obstructionist opposition to progress. Obviously,...

So you want to weaken your civil society? Cut off its foreign funding. By Victor Brechenmacher @ Brown University

Nov 26, 2017 | Brown University

On Saturday, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill forcing all foreign-funded media in Russia to register as 'foreign agents.' The move echoes a 2012 Russian law asking the same of...

“Philippines’s President Rodrigo Duterte War on Drugs, Populist or Hero?” by Allante’ Boykin @University of Memphis

Nov 21, 2017 | University of Memphis

Since the fairly new President Rodrigo Duterte has been elected into office last June, he has been on a binge to cleanse the country of drugs and addiction. Duterte's war on drugs has claimed the...

Settler use of Privately-Owned Palestinian Land and Israeli Democracy by DH @ the University of Memphis

Nov 20, 2017 | University of Memphis

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, on Wednesday, reconfirmed Israeli Supreme Court’s decision that Israeli authorities could expropriate privately owned Palestinian land for public use for Jewish...