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...

When Discretion Replaces Equality: How Immigration Enforcement Threatens Democracy

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

When Discretion Replaces Equality: How Immigration Enforcement Threatens Democracy A democracy cannot survive if the law is enforced differently depending on who you are....

Amnesty, an Age-Old Fix for Spain’s Deep Divide

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

"La Diada," a Catalan holiday, commemorates the surrender of Barcelona to Spanish forces in 1714 and the defeat of Catalan forces. As a result of this unfortunate incident...

Constitutional Rights in a State of Emergency: The Case of Vietnam

Dec 18, 2022 | Boston University

In March 2020, COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic; as the medical community worked to find a vaccine, the information world was rampant with misinformation. The Vietnamese government...

The Hostess with the Mostest

Dec 18, 2022 | Skidmore College

Qatar has been ruled by a single family known as the Al Thani since 1847. Although the Al-Thani have always controlled Qatar they have gone through phases of colonization by the British. Qatar...

The End of an Era: It May be Time to Let Twitter Go

Dec 17, 2022 | Skidmore College

Elon Musk has started to run Twitter into the ground. He has laid off about half of the company’s full-time employees, caused chaos after making blue check mark verifications a purchasable...

Winter Is Coming, But We Are Already in a Cold Civil War

Dec 17, 2022 | Skidmore College

Since the recent polarization of American political life, voter suppression and anti-democratic sentiments have been on the forefront of a war against democracy. America is in the heat of...

What If It Was Lebron James: Brittney Griner’s Release and the Bigger Picture

Dec 17, 2022 | Skidmore College

If it were Lebron James or Tom Brady, the United States would have gone to war. What should be celebrated as a win for America, the release of wrongfully detained WNBA star Brittney Griner, has...

Protesting in Mitch McConnell’s Backyard

Dec 17, 2022 | Suffolk University

On June 24th, 2022 the United States Supreme Court issued one of the most controversial decisions in its two centuries of existence. Supreme Court - Source: Unsplash This past summer, having just...

South Korea’s President Moves Forward with Plan to Fulfill Anti-Feminist Campaign Promises

Dec 17, 2022 | Suffolk University

The Blue House, Home of South Korea's Executive Office - Source: Unsplash The success of Yoon’s appeals to anti-feminism reflects the rise of reactionary gender politics within South Korean...

A New Far-Right in Israel: The Descent into Authoritarianism in Jerusalem

Dec 17, 2022 | Skidmore College

On November 1st, Israel held parliamentary elections for the fifth time in 3 years. Results are pointing towards another victory of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party. His coalition government during...

6 Arrows: Does Modern Turkey Still Follow the Ideology of Ataturk?

Dec 16, 2022 | Suffolk University

Kemalism, also Ataturkism, is the ideology of Turkish nationalism put forward by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is still considered to be the official ideology of the Republic of Turkey. At the Congress...