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...

A Puerto Rican Referendum Would Bolster Representative Democracy

Jun 10, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

U.S. congressional lawmakers have begun the process of drafting legislation to allow Puerto Ricans to determine their territorial status, highlighting potential implications...

The War on Drugs: No, Not That One, The Taliban’s

Jun 10, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

On April 3rd, 2022 the Taliban government decreed the cultivation of opium poppy would no longer be allowed. Afghanistan has a long history with the opium poppy flower and...

Polarization, Intersectionality, and Activism: The March for Racial Justice, RI by Rachel Risoleo @Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

On October 1, 2017, protestors in twenty cities across the country mobilized for the March for Racial Justice (“M4RJ”), a national effort that was spearheaded by activists in Washington, DC. I...

Have journalists figured out how to handle Trump? by Victor Brechenmacher @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Boston University

It's become a received wisdom of sorts that the media failed to grasp Donald Trump's rise in 2016 ahead of time because "the press [took] him literally, but not seriously; his supporters [took] him...

What Can the March for Racial Justice Teach Us About Democracy? by Dakota Fenn @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

On October 1st, nearly 11 months after the 2016 presidential election, I attended the “March for Racial Justice RI”. Although it is impossible to guess what the event would have looked like had...

Gun Control Victory in Providence, RI by Will Conard @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

On Monday October 30th at 1:45PM the Governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, signed the Protect Rhode Island Families Act into Law. The act itself aims to prevent domestic abusers from obtaining...

Back to the Drawing Board by Roxana Sanchez @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

On September 9th 2017 I attended the DACA rally held in front of the Rhode Island Statehouse, in support of the DREAMERS. Two days earlier, on September 5th, the Trump Administration had made the...

Democrats Won Important Races in Virginia and New Jersey by Yifei Shen @Boston University

Nov 17, 2017 | Boston University

As we are heading towards the midterm elections in 2018, many Democratic candidates won several significant races against their Republican counterparts recently in Virginia and New Jersey....

To Build or Not to Build? A Look at the RI CRMC LNG Hearing by Jonathan Silin @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

This Tuesday, on a cold November evening, approximately fifty Rhode Island residents packed into the Administration Building cafeteria at One Capitol Hill in Providence. Some held signs emblazoned...

Citywide Conversation with the Providence Mayor by Artur Avkhadiev @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

On October 11, I joined a "Citywide conversation" with the Providence mayor Jorge O. Elorza. As part of the effort to remain in touch with Providence residents, the city council has organized these...

March for Racial Justice, Rhode Island: Solidarity, Not Resistance by Cody Duane-McGlashan @ Brown University

Nov 17, 2017 | Brown University

As four of us from the class walked into India Point Park armed with a stack of surveys, clipboards, and pens on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I was struck by how laid back the whole event looked....