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.

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear By Fotios E. Meimeteas Imagine you are a single mother in the United States, raising four children who depend on you. You have established a new life, built a home, paid taxes, and lived in the United States for...

Food Security is Rooted Abroad

Global fertilizer supply chains connect geopolitical events abroad to food production at home in ways most consumers don’t see.

The Meaning of Silence : What the moment of silence for Melissa Hortman says about American democracy

On June 14, 2025, the lives of Melissa Hortman who was a House speaker in Minnesota and her husband Mark were taken in what authorities believe to be a politically motivated act of violence. The same day Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and...

Ongoing Tensions and Ceasefire Efforts in the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Oct 10, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.Credit: Fatima Shbair/AP Recent Condition in the Israel-Palestine Conflict As the conflict between Israel and...

Courts and Populism in Poland: Guardians of Democracy or Reinforcing the Status Quo?

Oct 5, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

In recent years, populism has surged onto the global political stage, becoming a formidable political force (Guttieri, 2019). It draws its strength from its appeal to the...

Is Poland Facing Democratic Backsliding? by Kensharra Davis @UCLA

Mar 14, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

Is Poland Facing Democratic Backsliding? “Free courts, free elections, and free Poland,” are the words that many people chant as they protest in Warsaw [1]. In 2015, the presidential and...

Kenya’s Presidential Election: A Troubling Sign for Democracy by Frances Strnad @ University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 14, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

This past fall, Kenyans voted for a new president. The election, which was supposed to be one of the most democratic elections the country has seen, was tarnished by fake news and a voting scandal....

Is Democracy In Canada Really Eroding? by Damian Glover @ University of California Los Angeles

Mar 14, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

Is Democracy in the "Most Friendly Nation in the World" Eroding? The simple answer to the question is no. In America there is a constant fight between political parties as well as the people who...

Erdogan’s Empire: A Case Study of democratic backsliding in Turkey by Jacob Awrabi @ University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 14, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

When examining democratic erosion, a prime example of a brief case study is that of Turkey. Through an array of authoritarian tactics, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has increasingly...

A Nail in Ataturk’s Coffin by Shravan Balaji @ University of Pennsylvania

Mar 14, 2018 | University of Pennsylvania

On April 16, 2017, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) celebrated the passage of their landmark Constitutional referendum by a margin of 51.4% to 48.6%. 85% of...

Democratic Erosion From Brexit by Kenneth Rollins @ University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 14, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

The United Kingdom shocked the world in the summer of 2016 when they decided to leave the European Union, commonly known as Brexit. This event could be a sign of democratic erosion. Recent studies...

Erosion of Democracy from Catalonia: Is this the beginning of the end for a democratic solution to the Catalan Crisis? by Cole Kinder @ University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 13, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

We like to think of Western European nations and the European Union as entities that uphold the fundamental rights of humanity and democracy. We grow up thinking that in Western Europe, the people...

Poland Democratic Erosion by Trevor Wolff @ University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 13, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

In December 2017, Polish president Andrzej Duda, “signed sweeping legislation…to overhaul the country’s judicial system”. This statement alone is an alarming indication of democratic erosion....

Is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a Dictator? by Michael Townsend at University of California, Los Angeles

Mar 13, 2018 | University of California, Los Angeles

Nicolas Maduro, who is the President for Venezuela, has been in office since 2013 and took over after Hugo Chavez. Because Maduro continued Chavez’s policies, Venezuela's economy declined with...