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.

Election Denialism Might be The New Normal in The United States

Although Trump can’t run for another term, the false narrative of election fraud could help to create pushback from his party in the event that Democrats win the next election.

Stealth Authoritarianism in Tunisia

According to Al Jazeera, Tunisia’s January 2026 sentencing of two journalists to three year prison terms for allegedly “spreading false news" illustrates the broader pattern of democratic erosion under president Kais Saied. Once widely regarded as the only democratic...

AI as Democratic Erosion by Proxy: Trump, Synthetic Media, and the Normalization of Anti-Pluralism

Donald Trump’s use of AI-generated media, particularly content that fabricates or manipulates the speech and actions of political opponents, constitutes a form of democratic erosion by proxy: it does not directly dismantle democratic institutions, but it degrades the...

Orbán and the Courts: Why Hungary’s Democracy Is at Risk

Feb 13, 2026 | Boston University

Orbán and the Courts: Why Hungary’s Democracy Is at Risk Is Hungary’s Democracy Still Alive? If you’ve been following European politics, you might have seen news about...

Democratic Backsliding in the 2025 Tanzanian Presidential Election

Feb 13, 2026 | Boston University

In the past year, Tanzania has been dealing with tensions surrounding their presidential election in October. There have been claims of election tampering, insurgency, and...

TUNISIA’S AUTHORITARIAN TURN: How President Kais Saied Is Dismantling the Arab Spring’s Only Democracy

Dec 12, 2025 | Georgia State University Perimeter College

When Tunisia's citizens overthrew their dictator in 2011, the world hailed Tunisia's emergence from this uprising as the only country to become a true democracy. For several years, Tunisia served as...

How Trump and his federal forces are using America’s polarization problem to dismantle American democracy

Dec 11, 2025 | Northeastern University

America’s two-party system is seeing one of its largest divides in American history. Belonging to one party or the other can be an immediate reason for hatred of another, and both parties are...

Indefinite Term Limits: How Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is Further Entrenching His Power

Dec 10, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

On July 31st, 2025, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed a new constitutional amendment 57 to three votes to allow the current president, Nayib Bukele, to run for a third term. The amendment...

A 50-Year Sentence for Facebook Posts: The Implications of Section 112

Dec 9, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

In January 2025, a 30-year-old man from Chiang Rai, Thailand, Mongkol Thirakot, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being accused of posting 27 Facebook posts related to Thailand’s monarchy....

When the Army Said No: How Military Defection Toppled Bangladesh’s Autocrat

Dec 8, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

On the night of August 4, 2024, Bangladesh’s army chief held an emergency video conference with his generals. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had ordered troops to enforce a curfew and suppress the...

The BJP’s Influence on Democratic Backsliding

Dec 7, 2025 | University of Pittsburgh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the largest in India and has been for the past 30 years. The BJP’s core philosophy emphasized Indian identity as a Hindu majority nation. However, the BJP in...

Drawing the Line in Law: How India’s CAA Turns Citizenship into a Religious Test

Dec 5, 2025 | University of Georgia

India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) exemplifies how the application of a supposedly technical citizenship law can subvert the democratic boundaries between "citizens" and "non-citizens." By...

Backsliding or Normalization? What is Driving the Changes to Chilean Voting Laws

Dec 5, 2025 | University of Georgia

In September of 2025, just months before the presidential election, two contentious reforms were passed to change voting laws in Chile to curb the voting capacity and the obligation to vote for...

Democracy and the Press: Netanyahu’s Threat to Media Freedom

Dec 5, 2025 | University of Georgia

Israeli Government Structure Israel has a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature, known as the Knesset, where citizens elect political parties rather than individuals. This system is...