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.

Donald Trump the Nazi Reincarnate?: Godwin’s Law and How This Phenomenon is Counterproductive to Understanding Democratic Erosion

What do we hope to accomplish when comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, a tyrannical perpetrator of genocide?

The Russia-Ukraine War Bodes Poorly for Democracy, But Not in the Way You Think

The Russia-Ukraine War is a serious threat to global democracy through the growing wave of isolationism in the United States, an entity that has typically been at the forefront of fighting authoritarianism across the world.

The Trump Administration’s Attack on USAID

The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID, increase concerns about democratic backsliding as it could result in a trend with the executive undermining institutional legitimacy.

All the Web’s a Stage: New Media, Micro-Celebrities, and Fake News in the Philippines

May 21, 2024 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

“Celebrity” in Philippine politics can manifest in more ways than one. Most notoriously, celebrity makes itself evident when film and television stars participate in...

Political Attitudes, Polarization, and Their Consequences in the United States

May 10, 2024 | William Jewell College

The United States has been facing political polarization since the early 1970s - but the uprise of technology, media, and freedom of expression has demonstrated how a...

Constitutional Mayhem: Democratic Erosion at Brown University

May 3, 2022 | Brown University

When one thinks of democratic institutions and voting procedures it is often within the context of national and local governance. In other words, the societal apparatuses in place that allow...

Armenian Genocide Denial: A Symptom of Democratic Erosion

May 2, 2022 | Brown University

In April 2021, President Biden became the first U.S. President to refer to the systematic killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as a genocide, after years of Armenian Americans,...

The End of Hungarian Democracy?

May 2, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

In 1989 the Soviet Union was reaching the end of its life; the Iron Curtain had corroded, and independence movements were sprouting up in both the Soviet Republics and its many satellite...

A Threat to Humanitarian Organizations: Zimbabwe Parliament Goes After PVOs

May 2, 2022 | Ohio State University

In a country where democratic rights are already sparse, Zimbabweans involved in private voluntary organizations (PVOs) may face even more intense scrutiny from the government. A PVO is very similar...

Brazil’s Democracy Is Fighting for Life

May 1, 2022 | University of Georgia

Two parties, two charismatic leaders, and a history of struggling to maintain democracy is the backdrop to this story. The Federative Republic of Brazil has been governing Brazil since 1988 after...

Is Empathy Really an Effective Tool for Reducing Polarisation?

Apr 30, 2022 | Brown University

Amid alarming levels of political polarisation, politicians, civil society, and ordinary citizens alike call for greater empathy between partisans. But is empathy really an effective tool for...

Democratic Backsliding in the Middle East’s Former Beacon of Democracy: Polarization and Media Control by Erdoğan and the AKP

Apr 30, 2022 | SUNY-Binghamton

For years, Turkey was hailed as being an exemplary case of a rare, developing, and withstanding secular democracy in a Muslim-majority society. However, under the rule of President Recep Tayyip...

Brazil: Democracy Endangered on the Amazon?

Apr 29, 2022 | University of Georgia

The Amazon Rainforest: a lush jungle that more closely resembles a single, living, breathing organism rather than a collection of individual greenery. Perhaps the center-right leaders of the West...

Would Becoming Economically More Independent Affect Labor Standards in Other Countries?

Apr 29, 2022 | Suffolk University

Child labor has been a global problem for decades. Is the United States simultaneously combating the rates of child labor in trade? Can India be an example that increased trade with developing...