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.

Fighting Fake News: Lessons from the World’s Top Target

2018 was a year of awakening in Taiwan. Two high-profile events threw the consequences of fake news into relief. First, Su Chii-cherng, the envoy to Osaka for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, took his own life in September 2018 after false reports about him...

Can Democracies Wait Another 2,500 Years to Meet Today’s Needs?

In 500 BC, during Athens' golden age of democracy, the voting age was set at 18. Over 2,500 years later, this threshold remains the same in the vast majority (90%) of countries. However, as democracies grapple with rising populism, authoritarianism, marginalization of...

Présidence Impériale: Executive Aggrandizement in Macron’s France

Amidst significant challenges to France’s democracy, President Emmanuel Macron has ignored democratic norms and abused constitutional articles to expand his own power—periling France’s democracy.

Populism Won’t Solve Rising Housing Prices, But People Are Choosing It Over Democracy—And Democracy Should Listen

Ohio State University

Every person needs somewhere to live, but in the United States that is becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve. With rent prices increasing by more than 50% in the...

Presidential Immunity’s Weakening Impact on U.S. Checks and Balances

Ohio State University

The United States was founded on the idea of checks and balances and no one branch of government becoming more powerful than another. This is meant to keep the country from...

Is There Any Hope Left for Belarus? 2020 Election Protests in “the Last Dictatorship in Europe”

Sabanci University

Following the 2020 presidential election results in favor of Lukashenko, Belarusians move to the streets demanding free and fair elections and democracy. However, this resulted in increasing state...

Turkey’s New “Media Disinformation Law” is a Threat to democracy

Sabanci University

Turkey has recently enacted a new law on media disinformation, which has sparked widespread concern and criticism from human rights organizations, media freedom advocates, and international bodies...

Hungary: From Championship of Democratization to Hybrid Regime of Electoral Autocracy

Sabanci University

Once described as the champion of the third wave of democratization in Europe, Hungary has become a pioneer of democratic backsliding. The concept of democratic backsliding refers to the incremental...

How Corruption and Nepotism Hinder Peru’s Consolidation of Democracy

Sabanci University

A recent attempted coup has rocked Peru. Former president Pedro Castillo dissolved congress and attempted to install a “Government of Exception” in the early hours of December 7th 2022. After this...

A New World Order? Digital Authoritarianism

Sabanci University

Kate Crawford in her book Atlas of AI argues that AI “grew on the battlefield where it was used to detect enemies, strange objects and maintain strategic control”. [1]The technology to which we...

Fall of Democracy in Turkey

Sabanci University

Recently, the global rise of democratic regimes starting during the 1970s with the Third Wave of Democratization has stopped. This wave was then replaced by a rise in autocratic regimes throughout...

Japan: Its Democracy and Freedom of Expression

Sabanci University

It is described that the freedom of expression, one of the indispensable elements to remain the nation democratic, in Japan has gradually restricted. Especially in recent decades, this trend is...

Serbia: A case of Competitive Authoritarianism

Sabanci University

Serbia: A case of Competitive Authoritarianism After the fall of Milosevic in 2000, democratization process started in Serbia. Along with institutional reforms and adaptation of liberal economic...

Hong Kong, mass protests and their fight against autocratization

Sabanci University

In Hong Kong, an unusual kind of protesting started in 2014. Marked by singing and yellow umbrellas, quickly the young students that represented Hong Kong’s peaceful resilience against the growing...

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