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.

Syria is not “Stuck Between Systems.” Time is the system.

Understand why the “waiting game” isn’t the answer to political change.

Democratic erosion in Ecuador

Second Blog post On March 6, 2026, Ecuador’s electoral courts ordered the suspension of the country's largest left leaning opposition party, Revolucion Ciudadana (Citizen’s revolution). The party, recognized as the primary opposition of Noboa's right-leaning National...

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...

Benin: How Quickly Democracy Can Erode

Apr 16, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities

Benin: How Quickly Democracy Can Erode Once hailed as a beacon of democracy in West Africa, Benin has undergone a dramatic transformation under President Patrice Talon's...

When Elections Still Happen but Democracy Still Weakens: Turkey and the Crackdown on Ekrem İmamoğlu

Apr 15, 2026 | Boston University

A country does not have to cancel elections to weaken democracy. Sometimes leaders keep elections in place but make it harder for the opposition to compete fairly. I argue...

Blog Post 1

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

One reading I’d like to touch on is Chapter One of Levitsky and Ziblatt’s book, “How Democracies Die”. At first, I didn’t understand why the Aesop passage was included in the chapter: then I...

Georgia’s October 2024 Protests: Exposing the Dangers of Power Consolidation and Pro-Putin Corruption

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

In October 2024, mass protests erupted across the nation of Georgia following the release of highly contested election results that extended the power of the ruling Georgian Dream party....

First Amendment, First to Go: Trump’s Threats on a Free Press

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

President Trump has spent the first weeks of his administration enacting firm executive orders and appointing allies to key government positions. His swift actions have not gone unnoticed, given...

How to Blur the Lines: Euphemism and Erosion

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

Euphemism as defined by Merriam Webster “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant” is one of is not the most important too...

South Korean Martial Law in 2024: How Was Democracy Threatened?

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

On December 3, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol declared martial law, causing widespread panic throughout the nation. His declaration was made in order to protect the country from...

Threats to Democracy: Trump’s Appointment of Devin Nunes to Lead Intelligence Advisory Board

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

Although there have been numerous more significant, overarching levels of democratic erosion displayed by the Trump administration, examining the seemingly minor actions contributing to this...

Strange Bedfellows? Republican Endorsements of Kamala Harris and the Choices of Democratic Gatekeepers

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

In the United States’ hyper-polarized political environment, endorsements that cross party lines are relatively rare. Yet in 2024, several high-profile Republicans urged their own party members to...

Our First Line of Defense Against an American Authoritarian Regime is Crumbling: Education

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

In an effort to explain what some often feel is the unexplainable, political scientists have been devising metrics to analyze those voters who cast their ballots for authoritarian candidates, to...

Dissolution of Democratic Norms in Trump’s America

Feb 13, 2025 | Boston University

In January, Congressman Andy Ogles, a Republican Representative for Tennessee, introduced a resolution to revise the 22nd Amendment, allowing President Trump and any future president to serve a new...