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.

Why Estonia’s decision to disenfranchise non-EU citizens is doing more harm than good

Estonia’s fears over Russian and Belarusian citizens participating in local elections has led to highly restrictive measures that affect far more than those two groups.

Democratic Backsliding or Payback to the Democrats? Unpacking Yoon’s Presidency in South Korea

The post examines the growing democracy erosion in South Korea that preceded the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol.

Ballots and Bullets: How Political Violence Is Undermining Democracy in Mexico

Ballots and Bullets: How Political Violence Is Undermining Democracy in Mexico In 2024, Mexico held one of the largest and most consequential elections in its recent history—electing over 20,000 officials nationwide, including a new president, Claudia Sheinbaum...

The Threat of JD Vance’s Populism to the Future of America

Oct 9, 2024 | Brown University

JD Vance has been called many things by many people since he was announced as Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential running mate three months ago. He is conservative and...

Protecting Children: Populist Logic and the American Right

Oct 9, 2024 | Brown University

Across the United States, socially conservative policies that coalesce around the notion of protecting children have been increasingly proposed and established. From banning...

Duterte’s Counterinsurgency Program: There Is More Than Meets the Eye

Nov 1, 2022 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

You’ll find no freer democracy than the Republic of the Philippines under former President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022). Well, at least that’s what former National Task Force to End Local Communist...

Rewriting Democracy: Chile’s Triumph of Institutional Process

Nov 1, 2022 | Skidmore College

On September 4, 2022, Chileans were offered a new path forward for their country. A new constitution had been drafted to replace the Pinochet era version, and Chilean citizens had the opportunity to...

Disbelief in Democratic Systems Starts with Election Fraud

Nov 1, 2022 | Boston University

Trump’s election as president was historic for many reasons, not only in that he seems to have less respect for...

The Media Politician: Marcos and the Philippines’ Democratic Erosion

Nov 1, 2022 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Despite the appearances and active updates on social media of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his plan for the Philippine government to provide a solution for inflation, is nowhere to be...

Mahsa Amini and Protests in Iran

Oct 31, 2022 | Skidmore College

For the past seven weeks, Iran has seen national protests with the gravitas to suggest the possibility of revolution. The protests were ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, in...

Why Are Young People Not Voting?

Oct 20, 2022 | Suffolk University

I attended a zoom seminar titled “Youth Civic Participation: More than Just Voting” that focused on discussing why young people aren’t showing up to the polls, but are among the loudest generation...

Working Towards Building An Inclusive Democracy

Oct 20, 2022 | Suffolk University

“The 2020 Annual Freedom House Report finds that democracy, civil liberties, freedom, minority rights, and pluralism have been in decline globally for 14 consecutive years, along with the United...

The New GOP: Small-Government to Anti-Government

Oct 20, 2022 | Suffolk University

“I’m scared, Cameron. Things never used to be like this. They were never great but they’ve never been this bad.” This was my mom’s reaction to watching the news coverage of the January 6th...

Viktor Orbán and the GOP

Oct 19, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

On August 4, 2022, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary gave a speech in Dallas, Texas—by his own admission “more than five thousand miles” from his homeland—and was met with cheers and applause....