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.

Is This The New Normal?

The President of The United States threatened genocide in the Middle East over a social media post. This is not an exaggeration nor a bizarre example of being hacked. The post is also not the first time that President Donald Trump has utilized his own social media...

Why Elections Alone Do Not Make the Philippines Democratic

Why Elections Alone Do Not Make the Philippines Democratic The Philippines holds elections every six years. All citizens have the right to vote, leaders are changed by the results of elections, and political campaigns look like it democratic. Yet after each election,...

Birds of an Anti-Democratic Feather: What Trump’s Recent Shift in Alliances Reveals About the Frightening Future of Democracy

As Trump continuously threatens members of NATO and cozies up to some of the most infamous modern-day authoritarians, his frightening desire for a destabilized, non-democratic world has become abundantly clear.

Myanmar: Exhibit A of the Danger of Military Rule

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

While the international community holds various broad examples of the inherent flaws in military institutions in government, Myanmar’s short history of democracy blows any...

United States Polarization Effect on Backsliding

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The rise of polarization here in the United States of America is a major cause of concern for the democratic norms which exist here in the US. Over the years, the United...

Standing, Kneeling, and Absence: Is Democracy Backsliding? by: Zach Witkin @ Brown University

Oct 2, 2017 | Brown University

Following the election of Donald Trump, many of those who oppose him were, and still are, concerned about the future of democracy. The populist minded leader uses, and keeps using, his platform as a...

Campaign Finance as Stealth Authoritarianism by Rachel Bennetts @ Boston University

Oct 2, 2017 | Boston University

In his essay “Stealth Authoritarianism”, Ozan Varol argues that leaders can maintain the facade of democratic values and institutions, while really backsliding towards authoritarianism. One...

Free speech has taken a knee, but Trump doesn’t really want it to stand tall. By Gianpaulo Pons at Boston University.

Sep 28, 2017 | Boston University

Free speech, in any form of expression, has been a heavily contested topic this weekend in regards to the National Football League (NFL). It began at a rally on Friday, September 22 when President...

Authoritarian practices of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. By Alexander Henshaw-Greene at Boston University.

Sep 27, 2017 | Boston University

Stealth Authoritarianism, as expressed by Ozan Varol, refers to regime practices that make a country less democratic without outright violating laws or repressing opposition. Varol writes that...

Is the U.S. in the throngs of totalitarianism? According to history (and Arendt), not yet. By Amalia Perez at Brown University.

Sep 26, 2017 | Brown University

More than half a century after being written, Hannah Arendt's hypotheses explaining the roots and contours of totalitarianism remain, unequivocally, a preeminent theoretical framework. The Origins...