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.

The SAVE Act, Voter Suppression, and Erosion in the US

Conservatives are championing the SAVE Act as a way to combat voter fraud, but what about when it enforces voter suppression?

Hungary: A Case Study of Democratic Backsliding in the European Union

Hungary’s gradual democratic backsliding under Viktor Orbán demonstrates how legal reforms, centralized executive power, and weakened institutional checks can erode democracy from within, turning a once-promising post-communist transition into a partially free, delegative system

How Pakistans Government has Backslided Further since Imran Khan’s arrest

Democratic erosion is a gradual process that has been an ongoing process in Pakistan. While the country still holds elections and operates under the 1973 constitution, the quality of the democracy has weakened especially since Imran Khan, the former prime minister,...

Disinformation and war : How the Violent War in Ukraine Illustrates the Power of Disinformation 1

Apr 27, 2025 | University of Memphis

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, information warfare has become as crucial as military strategy on the ground. Government officials, state-backed...

Russia fueling Democratic Struggles in Romania through the Media

Apr 24, 2025 | University of Memphis

In November of 2024, Romanian politician Călin Georgescu was accused of receiving help from Russia through the global media platform TikTok, to influence Romanian elections....

Puerto Rican Statehood

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

Since the beginning of territorial rule in Puerto Rico, there have been arguments for and against statehood. Currently, Puerto Rico is under Commonwealth status. This gives them limited rights: they...

Midterm 2022 Elections and Beyond: The Impact and Influence of Donations in American Politics

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

As most of the Midterm Election races have been decided, it is important to ask how we got here. Left leaning media have given much of the credit of the Democratic party to young voters, who came...

Is the Venezuelan Government Facing a Point of No Return?

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

A once successful democracy, Venezuela has experienced a sudden economic downturn due in part to the price of oil dropping worldwide, causing a shift at all levels of the country’s government and in...

The Creation of the National Constituent Assembly

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The National Constituent Assembly Creation Venezuela was once seen as a country that seemed to be on the right track to democracy in Latin America, but that changed when Hugo Chavez took power in...

Election-Deniers as Political Officials, American Democracy in Peril

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The democratic institutions of the United States of America are in a highly precarious position. In the 2020 presidential election Donald Trump tested the guardrails of Democracy in every way he...

Sign of the Times: Viktor Orban’s Anti-Democratic and Xenophobic Anti-Immigration Campaign

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

Across the bucolic Hungarian countryside, in cities and villages both large and small, massive billboards and signs dot the landscape. Upon closer inspection, these signs are covered in xenophobic...

Germany Begins Discussions Entering a New Era of Worldwide Democracy

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The Futures Forum On November 3, 2022, Germany hosted the inaugural Futures Forum in Muenster. The U.S. took part in the forum as part of a joint effort agreed upon in July 2021 by President Biden...

How Populism Let the Political Wing of a Terrorist Organization Win in Northern Ireland

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

In May 2022, Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland’s largest nationalist party, won the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, marking the first time a nationalist party in support of a reunited Ireland...

Doomed From the Start (a Study of National Unity in Serbia)

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

In 2017, Serbian democracy officially reverted to authoritarianism. This comes after the constitution written in 2006 at Serbia’s establishment as an independent state began eroding in 2013. The...