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 are student blog posts written by student participants in the Democratic Erosion Course. These posts were not written by nor represent the views of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

Trump’s Press Ban and The Courts Response

Access to unbarred media is fundamental to maintaining the integrity of a democratic country. Without independent media, the stream of information to voters is disrupted making people's understanding of their political environment inaccurate. If the media...

Trump’s Use of the SAVE Database May Threaten Democratic Participation

On Friday, September 25th, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to make use of the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to screen state voter lists for possible noncitizens temporarily. The...

The Press and the Limits of Presidential Power

On September 25, 2026, The Atlantic published Quinta Jurecic’s article, “The Two-Year Temper Tantrum to Come,” about President Donald Trump’s recent fight with the White House press. Just one day earlier, a federal judge had ordered the White House to restore access...

American Intervention in Venezuela: An Erosion of Democratic Norms

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

American Intervention in Venezuela: An Erosion of Democratic Norms In the early hours of January 3, 2026, U.S. military forces conducted an “intervention” in...

Fragmenting the United States Post Dobbs Decision

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court made a landmark decision in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion prior to fetal viability, prohibiting any state bans. At the beginning...

New strategies for avoiding electoral defeat: manoeuvre prior and after elections on the example of Turkey’s

Jan 1, 2023 | Sabanci University

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a practitioner of new authoritarian methods, initiated in the aftermath of the 2015 parliamentary elections a new concept of authoritarian exercise of power. In 2015, the...

Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey

Dec 31, 2022 | Sabanci University

In the last decade, Turkey's political system has been characterized by polarization, democratic backsliding, competitive authoritarianism, and populism (Moral, 2021). Although such drastic shifts...

The Effect of Neoliberalism and Populism on American Democratic Erosion

Dec 27, 2022 | University of Denver

What is democratic erosion? Democratic erosion is the phenomena in which government institutions fail to uphold democratic constitutions. There are many ways in which democracies can backslide into...

Does Media Coverage of Corruption Help Populists?

Dec 27, 2022 | Skidmore College

Earlier this month, right-wing nationalist Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in Israel, despite facing multiple federal corruption charges. Many Israelis have expressed deep concern over the...

Is it Elon Musk, Twitter, or the Already Growing Populism in the US?

Dec 27, 2022 | Sabanci University

Blog Post The Case of Hunter Biden’s Laptop Elon Musk recently bought Twitter, a social media platform that has over 200 million users worldwide. After his purchase Musk announced a couple of new...

The Rise of Populism in Myanmar

Dec 26, 2022 | Sabanci University

When Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, Myanmar was seen as a specimen of change and of democratisation despite its long history of military rule. More than maybe any other...

White Christian Nationalists “ReAwaken” America

Dec 26, 2022 | Sabanci University

For a little bit over 20 minutes, he enlightened his followers on how to “Save This God-Given Republic” from enemies both foreign and domestic. After he finished his speech, he turned to the crowd...

The Power Vacuum in Regime Transition

Dec 24, 2022 | Skidmore College

The first anniversary of Sudan’s latest military coup has been marked by protests in the capital city of Khartoum, as well as Port Sudan and South Kordofan. On October 26th, the protestors’ call for...

Rishi Sunak and the Post-Post-Racial Politics of Identity

Dec 22, 2022 | Skidmore College

Can Britain's trailblazing new prime minister be more than a wolf in sleek clothing? On October 24th, following the historically short-lived reign of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak became the third...