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.

Democracy Dying by Law : A Case study of Poland’s Under PiS Era

Still water runs deep. Have you ever heard of this phrase? It means that the surface may look calm, but there is some powerful force moving underneath. What if this was happening in real life? That force has a name: stealth authoritarianism. That force wears a mask...

The New Nepal: A Model or An Outlier?

Recent uprisings in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Madagascar (just to name a few) have highlighted younger generations’ demands for anticorruption and better political representation. Specifically, the 2025 uprising in Nepal illustrates GenZ’s potential for...

Challenging Erdoğan’s Autocracy: Resistance to Democratic Erosion in Türkiye

Resistance to the Erdoğan regime in Türkiye has maintained a presence in local and national government, found multigenerational support in academia, and been energized by young Turks looking for a more democratic future for their home.

Trump has removed the National Science Foundation Board: Where does the overreach stop?

Apr 30, 2026 | Tulane University

Event On April 27th, 2026 the Trump Administration dismissed the National Science Foundation Board which consisted of 22 independent board members. Board members received an...

Born Here, Belonging Nowhere: The Constitutional Crisis of Executive Order 14,160

Apr 30, 2026 | Tulane University

On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued executive order No. 14,160 titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which declared that...

How elites quietly destroyed democracy in Venezuela

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities

Democracies do not usually collapse in some dramatic moments. There is no single night where everything suddenly falls. Most of time, they fade slowly and almost silently until the day they are not...

Democratic Erosion in Serbia and the Role of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University

The Novi Sad Canopy Collapse and Vučić’s response Can authoritarianism be spread transnationally, and if so, how does it affect democratic regimes in an era of...

The Stealthy Decay: Türkiye’s Democratic Erosion

Apr 19, 2026 | George Mason University

For much of the early twenty-first century, Türkiye was often considered a successful example of democratic consolidation in a Muslim-majority country. Political scientists such as Guillermo...

Before the Ballot Arrives: Trump’s Mail Voting Order and the Capture of Election Infrastructure

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

By March 24th, Donald Trump had voted by mail in a special election to fill a seat in Florida’s lower chamber. A week later, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to control...

Popularity Doesn’t Equal Democracy: A Look Into El Salvador’s Puzzle

Apr 19, 2026 | Boston University

Since President Nayib Bukele took office in 2019, El Salvador has undermined norms by changing the constitution, branches of government, and civil rights. While this directly threatens democracy,...

The BJP and Democracy in India

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

India’s history with democracy is long and often complex, especially when considering cultural factors and the size of the population as it has continued to increase over time. Under Modi and the...

When Guardrails Break: Turkey’s Terrifying Warning to the Democratic World

https://www.nccadvocacy.org/post/freedom-house-freedom-in-the-world-2025#:~:text=Freedom%20on%20the%20Net%202025,with%20sharpest%20decline%20in%20freedoms

Apr 19, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities

Democracy collapses not because of army tanks, but because of the division fostered by leadership and legitimate voting. Just over a decade ago, Turkey was praised as a successful model for the...

Is This The New Normal?

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

The President of The United States threatened genocide in the Middle East over a social media post. This is not an exaggeration nor a bizarre example of being hacked. The post is also not the first...

Why Elections Alone Do Not Make the Philippines Democratic

Apr 19, 2026 | George Mason University

Why Elections Alone Do Not Make the Philippines Democratic The Philippines holds elections every six years. All citizens have the right to vote, leaders are changed by the results of elections, and...