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...

Xi Jinping’s Power Consolidation and the Return to Personalistic Rule; Shanghai Case Study

Jun 9, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

China’s single-party regime is in danger as Xi Jinping, the current president of China, seeks to return to the Mao era style of personalistic rule. Chairman Mao (Mao Zedong)...

Will Estonia Continue to be a Beacon of Democracy?

Jun 9, 2022 | University of California, San Diego

The Coronavirus posed a challenge to government’s world wide and response in Estonia was considered to be quick, effective and generally approved by the public. Like many...

Student Activism Today Is Aimed More at Policy Than Democracy. By Aidan Calvelli @ Brown University

Nov 3, 2017 | Brown University

From the Vietnam War protests on campuses to the Sudanese divestment campaign (that Brown students like Scott Warren helped lead), students have long spoke out on political issues. Just last year,...

Senegal’s Democratic Façade: How Senegal is not the Example by Zach Witkin @ Brown University

Nov 3, 2017 | Brown University

Senegal has been widely regarded in the international community has having one of the most stable democracies in Africa. The 2012 election in which President Macky Sall defeated longtime incumbent...

How the Russian State Makes for a Deft Opposition by Artur Avkhadiev @ Brown University

Nov 3, 2017 | Brown University

Since Vladimir Putin’s reelection in 2012, the Russian state has undergone a transformation. Adapted under the pressure of the Post-Cold War era, Russia now has a full laundry list of democratic...

The Electoral College Safeguards American Democracy by Yifei Shen @Boston University

Nov 2, 2017 | Boston University

On November 8th, 2016, Donald Trump officially won the Presidency of the United States, beating his opponent, Hillary Clinton, by a count of 304-227 Electoral College votes. However, Trump lost to...

Liberal Intellectuals’ Moral Focus Draws Them to Anti-Trump Resistance by Talia Brenner @ Brown University

Oct 31, 2017 | Brown University

In a week, a year will have passed since Donald Trump’s election. In this time, we have seen a flourishing of political involvement among the intellectual left. Pink knit hats, blue ACLU ribbons,...

Polarization Fuels Erdogan’s Consolidation of Power in Turkey by Cody Duane-McGlashan @ Brown University

Oct 30, 2017 | Brown University

In the past fifteen years, Turkey has gone from economic ruin to burgeoning democracy held up as a model for the world to a state in the midst of severe democratic and liberal backsliding. All these...

How Experts and the Public See Democracy Differently. By Aidan Calvelli @ Brown University

Oct 29, 2017 | Brown University

In February 2017, a group of political scientists founded Bright Line Watch, a group focused on surveying experts and the public to assess their perceptions of the state of American democracy. The...

“Wartime Iraq and Gender Ideologies” by Allante’ Boykin @ University of Memphis

Oct 29, 2017 | University of Memphis

In war time Iraq, conflict spills from the battlefield into civilian life. As a consequence, the dynamics of the family is corrupted, and homes are left unattended. Woman-headed households are...

For God or Country? Religion and Israeli Democracy by Matthew Jarrell @ Brown University

Oct 26, 2017 | Brown University

Israel is a small nation, about the size of New York City in population and the state of New Jersey in land area. It was established in 1948 as a Jewish state, and its national symbols,...