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 2026 Midterms as an Institutional Test

Orbán Lost. But Did Democracy Win? Hungary’s Election and the Limits of Electoral Recovery

On April 12 2026 Viktor Orbán's sixteen-year grip on Hungary ended. This is when Péter Magyar's Tisza party won a landslide securing a two-thirds supermajority in parliament. The same threshold Orbán had used for years to rewrite the constitution in Fidesz's favor....

Democratic Erosion and the Far-Right in Post-Estallido Chile

A fundamental question haunts any serious analysis of Chile's recent political trajectory: did the democratic erosion now visibly accelerating under the far-right begin with the mass mobilizations of 2019, or did it come after? The answer requires resisting the...

Why EU Membership Isn’t Saving Croatia’s Democracy

Mar 26, 2026 | Suffolk University

More than a decade after joining the European Union, Croatia still struggles with corruption, weak courts, and low public trust. This raises a puzzle: if EU membership is...

In Illinois, Donors Narrowed Democracy… Again

Mar 25, 2026 | Suffolk University

Before Illinois voters cast a single ballot on March 17th, outside money had already been working to decide who they would get to choose from. Roughly $125 million poured...

What the Removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy means for American Democracy

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

Despite once being hailed as a pillar of democracy and freedom, democracy in the United States has been under threat for a while. Political circumstances threaten American democracy because of three...

Is Guatemala’s Democratic Backsliding Reaching a Tipping Point?

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

There is great fear that Guatemala’s democracy is weakening beyond the point of return. Amid election fraud, Guatemala has turned into a country of chaos. The protests are threatening lives; as road...

The Current Rise of Populism: Weaponizing Elections

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

Who does one think of when talking about populism and authoritarianism? The common names that come to mind are those of Hitler, Hugo Chavez, Juan Perón, Alberto Fujimori, and others. However, there...

Tunisia’s current democratic backslide

Oct 16, 2023 | Boston University

Africa as a whole has faced many challenges, notably colonization, which impeded the progress of many of its nations. The legacy of colonization persists, with numerous African countries still...

Hong Kong’s Autonomy Eroding: The Impact of the National Security Law

Oct 16, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

Hong Kong, once hailed for its "One country, two systems" framework that promised a high degree of autonomy in various aspects of governance, has been witnessing a gradual decline in its autonomy,...

Democracy Decline in India: Worth Compromising for the West and the U.S.

Oct 16, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

The rise of China’s assertions around the world and the fall of liberal values among political stakeholders in the United States and the West had been married to the increasingly divided world...

Australia: Constitutional Recognition of the Indigenous People Fails at the Polls

Oct 16, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

Australia is a nation that has, since its founding as a British colony in the late eighteenth century, struggled with the recognition and inclusion of its indigenous Aboriginal population. A recent...

Variations of Populism in the Philippines: Medical Populist President Rodrigo Duterte and “Tuob” Populist Governor Gwen Garcia

Oct 16, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

Photo: Physical exercises for violators of the enhanced community quarantine policy in province of Cebu in the Philippines by Gerard Francisco, Cebu Daily News Digital. The COVID-19 pandemic...

Wrestling with the Populist Rhetoric-Policy Tension: Insights from the 2023 Republican Primaries’ Discourse on the UAW Strike

Oct 16, 2023 | School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University

The recent national-level strike launched by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at several major auto manufacturers in the United States against General Motors (GM), Ford Motor, and Stellantis...