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 are student blog posts written by student participants in the Democratic Erosion Course. These posts were not written by nor represent the views of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

South Africa’s Democracy: Why Gradual Institutional Weakening and Public Distrust Matter

Democracy doesn't necessarily die suddenly. A country can continue to have elections, courts, political parties, and freedom of speech, but its democracy could gradually erode. I think South Africa is a great example of that. South Africa remains a democracy but...

Venezuela Still Had Elections. So, What Happened to Democracy?

Venezuela and Democratic Erosion When people imagine a democracy turning authoritarian, they often picture a military coup or a leader suddenly canceling elections. Venezuela shows that democratic decline can happen much more slowly. Elections, courts, legislatures,...

Bread in a Backsliding Circus? Broken Distributive Promises Fueling Indonesia’s Student Protests

Indonesia has long maintained a fragile relationship with democracy, teetering between dictatorship under Suharto until 1998, to becoming one of Asia’s most celebrated democratic success stories in the 2000s, and now again slowly backsliding towards authoritarianism...

How Turkey’s Justice System Became a Tool for Political Control and how backsliding ways change

Oct 23, 2026 | George Mason University

Coups are supposed to be considered as the fastest way to erode a democracy. Soldiers seize power and elections disappear. But sometimes the coup is only the beginning of...

Is Democracy Deteriorating? A One-Year Assessment of the Implications of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts on Democracy Abroad

Oct 23, 2026 | Brown University

In July 2025, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially shut down. The move had been one of the first major actions taken by the Trump...

Hungary Still Holds Elections. So Why Is Its Democracy Getting Weaker?

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

When we think about democracy, we usually think about elections. People vote, a party wins, and the government is supposed to represent the people. But what if a country keeps holding elections...

Beyond the Ballot, the Year of the Paradox: South Africa After 2024

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

On May 29 2024, South Africa held it’s seventh democratic general elections. The results shook the country’s political landscape. The African National Congress (ANC), which had dominated and...

The Slow Death of Democracy: How Tunisia Fell Back into One-Man Rule

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

When people think about how democracy dies, they often imagine violent military coups. However, in the modern world, democracy usually dies slowly, legally, and from within. Tunisia was once...

The Court Takeover and Democracy: How Poland Lost Its Way

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

It is easy to think that a democracy ends when there is a military coup, a war, or another sudden event. But democracy can also become weaker slowly from inside the government. Poland is one...

Fixing The System to Save It: How Mongolia’s Electoral Reforms Shield Democracy in a Tough Neighborhood

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

Can a nation surrounded entirely by autocratic giants keep its democracy alive when internal corruption threatens to pull it apart? Sitting directly between Russia and China, Mongolia stands as one...

Israel Cannot Renew Its Democracy While Ignoring Palestinian Freedom

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

A Democracy with a Boundary What does an election mean to someone who cannot vote for the government shaping their life? Israeli citizens can vote for national leaders. Palestinians in the occupied...

Behind the 85: Greece’s Quiet Democratic Backsliding

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

85 out of 100: What the Score Hides According to Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2026, Greece scores 85 out of 100 and is classified as "Free." Yet behind this high score lie serious concerns....

The Reaction to Trump’s Barring of Various News Channels from the White House

Oct 16, 2026 | Boston University

On September 18th, 2026, President Donald Trump posted online to the platform Truth Social stating that he would be “banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW,… and Politico… from the White House as a result of...

Tunisia’s Democracy Did Not Disappear Overnight

Oct 16, 2026 | George Mason University

In Tunisia, democracy did not end with a military coup or a cancelled election. It gradually became weaker. The president used emergency powers, presidential orders and constitutional changes....