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 blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

Pernicious Polarization and the Failure of Resistance in El Salvador

The current state of democracy in El Salvador emphasizes how pernicious polarization destroys the possibility of effective resistance to democratic backsliding, as theorized by McCoy, Rahman, and Somer in "Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy." Bukele's...

How Democracy Erodes: A Comparison between the U.S. and Brazil

Both the United States under President Trump and Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro experienced a period of anti-democratic rhetoric. That led to the decline of significant indicators of stable democratic regimes. Among these indicators are election intimidation, attacks on...

Why The Save Act Misses The Mark

The current administration's push for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act has become yet another polarizing topic between the left and the right. The SAVE America Act mandates voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of...

Serbia: A case of Competitive Authoritarianism

Jan 5, 2023 | 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...

Hong Kong, mass protests and their fight against autocratization

Jan 4, 2023 | 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...

Democratic Backsliding and the Case of Gerrymandering in North Carolina by Sunder Sai @ The Ohio State University

Feb 22, 2018 | Ohio State University

In 2017, a trial court ordered North Carolina legislators to create new congressional voting maps because they deemed Republican legislators in violation of the Constitution for...

If We’re Relying on Republican Constraint to Save Our Democracy, We Might Be in Trouble by Abby Nutter @ The Ohio State University

Feb 22, 2018 | Ohio State University

In Kurt Weyland’s piece on the barriers to populism in America he identifies Republican constraint as one of the protecting factors of American democracy. However, this argument is flawed for...

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT: THE “BAN” ON WORDS AT THE CDC AND HOW TRUMP’S POPULIST RHETORIC PLAYS A ROLE by CASSANDRA DULA @ THE OHIO STATE UNIVERISTY

Feb 22, 2018 | Ohio State University

In December of 2017, several news reports – the first of which was the Washington Post – alleged that the Centers for Disease Control had enacted a “ban” on seven words in budgeting documents that...

Right Not to Vote: Voter Roll Purging in Ohio is a Danger to Free and Fair Elections by Sarah Stradling @ The Ohio State University

Feb 22, 2018 | Ohio State University

The 1993 National Voter Registration Act has served as the basis of the United States’ voter registry for the past 25 years, but one factor has recently come under scrutiny and is up for a Supreme...

“Mark My Words: How Trump and Chavez Appeal to the Proletariat” by Kennedy Inman @ Georgia State University

Feb 20, 2018 | Georgia State University

Trump. A name that is synonymous with orange skin, red hats, and many opinions, especially on military parades and immigration. Chávez. A lesser known name when he began, yet became the leader of...

Democratic Erosion or Just Timely Hysteria: A look into Bright Line Watch by Ricardo Rios @ Skidmore College

Feb 20, 2018 | Skidmore College

U.S. democracy is changing, as do people, but is it really eroding? This is the essential question that inspires the work conducted by Bright Line Watch (BLW). The initiative is a collaboration...

The 2016 Election: Free and Fair or Biased and Bigoted? By Mackenzie Patrick @The Ohio State University

Feb 20, 2018 | Ohio State University

Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy. This belief is widely accepted by both academic political theorists and most U.S. citizens. However, a critical look at the 2016 election...

Trump’s Fake News Awards Are a Threat to American Democracy By Jillian Newman @ Ohio State University

Feb 20, 2018 | Ohio State University

Donald Trump’s recent Fake News Awards may seem like just another harmless jab by Trump to the media that he often taunts, but it is much more than that. To have a sitting president attack his own...

DISRESPECTING THE UNION: HOW LAWMAKERS’ STATE OF THE UNION PROTESTS THREATEN TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY by LINDSEY POWELL @ UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Feb 19, 2018 | University of Pennsylvania

On January 30, 2018, President Trump delivered his first State of the Union address to 46 million television viewers and a chamber filled with American dignitaries. Despite the chamber’s bustling...