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.

Defending Democracy While Restricting Press Freedom in Moldova

Can a democratic government protect democracy while restricting press freedom? Ahead of the 2025 parliamentary election, the Moldovan government used broad emergency powers through the “Commission for Exceptional Situations.” As documented in Amnesty International’s...

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...

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...

Are you MAGA, even? How Polarization Ties Into Democratic Erosion

Mar 29, 2026 | Suffolk University

By definition, democracy requires multiple parties to function, but the proudest democracy of the modern age is facing issues as a direct result. The United States is...

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...

Democratic Erosion: Threats in the Philippine Democracy

Dec 16, 2022 | University of the Philippines, Diliman

Democratic Erosion (also known as Democratic Backsliding) is an unsettlingly prevalent phenomenon in which competitive elections are undermined, individuals lose the right to mobilize or voice...

Economic Instability in Turkey: An Attempt to Find a New Economic Model or Political Adventure

Dec 16, 2022 | Suffolk University

This story is about an autocrat who has been in big politics for 20 years. Under his rule, the exchange rate of the national currency has collapsed several times, prices have risen incredibly in the...

Ukraine and Russia: Soviet Tensions Lead to Modern Mass Murder

Dec 15, 2022 | Suffolk University

Russia has been threatening the democratic sovereignty of Ukraine since the country declared independence from the USSR shortly before its official dissolution in the early 1990’s. Under the rule of...

Castillo’s Failed Self-Coup

Dec 15, 2022 | Sabanci University

Recently, on the 7th of December, Pedro Castillo former president of Peru attempted to give a self-coup d'état. The Peruvian congress held a vote in which it was decided whether the congress would...

The 2022 US Midterm: A Denouement of Populism

Dec 14, 2022 | Skidmore College

The November midterm elections have come and gone, and the American people have spoken: they reject populism. If the rise of election deniers is indicative of populism, then the underwhelming...

The Roles of Identity and Affective Polarization in Democratic Erosion

Dec 13, 2022 | University of Denver

Introduction What is the most salient causal explanation for democratic erosion in the U.S.? Is it economic inequality and neoliberal policy? What about the decay of political parties, norms, and...

The Importance of Non-Voting Youth Involvement

Dec 12, 2022 | Suffolk University

Through most of high school, I thought that the only way to get involved politically was through protests and online movements. It wasn’t until senior year that, after a conversation with a mayoral...

The Return of the Taliban to Afghanistan

Dec 11, 2022 | Suffolk University

In 1996, The Taliban emerged as the leader of Afghanistan after storming Kabul and overthrowing the Soviet-Backed president, Muhammed Najibullah. They rose to power under the promise of peace after...