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.

Corruption, Economics, and Catastrophe: Democratic Erosion in Brazil

Apr 19, 2024 | William Jewell College

Today in Brazil, corruption charges could undermine democracy. While the democracy holds competitive elections and sits on a 72% "free" scale, the country holds high when it...

Orbán and Trump: Faces of Dying Democracies.

Apr 19, 2024 | Ursinus College

Donald Trump has been compared to a lot throughout his mediocre rise into politics. Even during the infancy of his 2016 election, Trump was being compared to dictators,...

Has Florida Gone Down the Rainbow Road of Authoritarianism?

Apr 5, 2022 | Rollins College

Photo courtesy of Daniel James, unspash.com In an Op-Ed published on April 1, Michelle Goldberg writes about the ongoing fight between Disney and the Right over the recent passage of Florida’s H.B....

“Point Out Voters’ Frustrations:” The Downfall of True Political Discussion

Apr 5, 2022 | Rollins College

Scott Menchin The New York Times article “Can Republicans Win by Just Saying No?” by Blake Hounshell and Leah Askarinam examines the strategies contemporary politicians act upon to effectively...

What the State Secrets Privilege Means for Executive Power and Democratic Backsliding

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

The Supreme Court case of United States v. Zubaydah reached its final decision on March 3, 2022--a landmark decision on the issue of the state secrets privilege. Abu Zubaydah—a suspected al Qaeda...

Cuban American Partisan Attachment and Antipathy

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

William Kelly’s article, “The Cuban revolution explains why younger Cuban Americans supported Trump” discusses how the most recent Cuban U.S. immigrants were projected to be more liberal than their...

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill is a Pipeline to the Radical Right

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis assumed office in early 2019 and has quickly come to dominant both state and national level politics. From his harsh resistance to COVID-19 restrictions to his blatant...

Hungarian Democracy: The Gradual Decline of Democratic Norms

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

On April 3rd, 2022, Hungary held elections for the National Assembly and for the prime minister. The nation’s incumbent leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, declared victory1. Widely seen as a...

The Conservative Political Action Conference Threatens Liberal Democracy

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Orlando, Florida on February 24th through February 27th, 2022. CPAC is one of the largest and most influential conventions for...

To Fund or Not to Fund? Police Rhetoric and Democratic Backsliding

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

Perceptions on crime rates among American citizens radically differ from the truth of the matter.[i] Who is to blame for this widespread misinformation? The very people Americans hire to reduce the...

Extremism Is a Global Threat: Here is Why

Apr 4, 2022 | Rollins College

“How far right extremism is becoming a global threat” published by The Economist details the ways in which radicalization has infected numerous places around the world—such as the United States,...