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.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary: A Prime Example of Authoritarian Populism

With elections in Hungary coming up this April, the country’s incumbent prime minister, Viktor Orban, is ramping up efforts to stay in power, resorting to authoritarian tactics to sway the vote in his favor once again. Orban and his Fidesz Party are facing a real...

Donald Trump Continues to Exemplify Every Autocratic Warning Sign in the Book

The recent launching of an air strike campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran has the international and domestic community alike holding their breath, and it only confirms long-held concerns about President Trump’s style of governing; he...

Fear Over Freedom: ICE in Trump’s America

Somalia: Demise of the Clan System?

May 13, 2025 | James Madison University

You Can’t Sit with Us: The Practice of Democratic Gatekeeping and How It Has Saved Democracies

May 9, 2025 | Tulane University

At the 11th hour of the 2024 election many Republican politicians and members of congress took a stance against Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Through the “Republicans...

The Invasion of Ukraine: A Crisis Magnifies a Larger Issue of Internal Instability and Corruption

Dec 9, 2022 | Suffolk University

Ukraine is facing a Constitutional Court and corruption crisis that will impact its ability to recover from the devastation to democratic sovereignty caused by Russia’s advances of military action...

Free Speech, Social Media, and Elections: A Factor Analysis

Dec 8, 2022 | Boston University

Context On December 2nd, Elon Musk retweeted a thread which was posted at Musk’s behest by Matt Taibbi, called The “Twitter Files.” The thread details the censorship Twitter executives engaged in...

The Uphill Battle for Democracy in Vietnam

Dec 8, 2022 | Boston University

On June 23rd 2022, Phan Huu Diep Anh, a Facebook user living in Ho Chi Minh City, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on the charge of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on State...

Populist Reforms in Mexico

Dec 6, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Another populist attempts to strengthen their power through eliminating electoral institutions in Mexico. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has used his power in the presidency to...

The Republican Party Has a Viktor Orbán Problem

Dec 5, 2022 | Skidmore College

On August 4, 2022, Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán spoke at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas. CPAC is a conference where American...

Conspiracy Theories and the 2020 United States Elections

Dec 4, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

On January 6, 2021, the American public received a startling reminder of the effects of conspiracy theories. As a direct result of President Trump’s conspiratorial rhetoric, a violent mob invaded...

Ortega’s Obstruction of Fair Process in Nicaragua

Dec 4, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Nicaragua is a coastal country in Central America founded in 1821 after gaining independence from Spain, then joining the Mexican...

This Musk Be a Joke

Dec 4, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

“Elon Musk he’s such a f***ing moron” (Conover, 2022) said Adam Conover in relation to Elon Musk on the Trillionaire Pod, a podcast. Elon Musk who recently bought Twitter in an effort to “clean...

How Conspiracy Theories Helped Putin Secure Power

Dec 4, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

Since Vladimir Putin has had his hand in Russian politics, he has peddled in conspiratorial thinking to help himself gain support and power within his country and the world. Russia has regained its...