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.

The Informational Middleman: A Hidden Literacy Crisis, Who Gets to Explain Democracy?

What if you can vote but can’t understand what you’re voting on? Imagine two citizens receiving identical governmental notices before preparing to cast their votes in an upcoming election. Both have the same legal right to vote, contact their representatives, and...

How Many Resignations are Too Many Resignations?: The Political Environment of the UK Leading to Keir Starmer Relinquishing his Premiership

There has been a lot of commotion in the last years about the instability of liberal democracies, and particularly established democracies which have made a considerable amount of people question their validity and efficacy. A particularly interesting example of this...

When Legal Authority May Undermine Democracy: The Overseas Voting Forms Controversy

In late August, the Trump Administration used emergency requests to alter the federal voting form used by overseas U.S. citizens, limiting how certain voters can request ballots. The changes include the elimination of a checkbox for U.S. citizens born abroad who have...

Tempering Potential Post-Election Expectations in Hungary

Apr 12, 2026 | Boston University

Hungary’s 21st century shift from liberal democracy into a “hybrid regime” – or a competitive authoritarianist state, as the phenomenon is also sometimes known – has been...

Due Process Violation and Democratic Erosion in El Salvador

Apr 6, 2026 | University of Houston

In March 2022, El Salvador declared a state of emergency that would reshape not only the country's political landscape but also their legal foundation. Under the current...

Hungary: Europe’s Electoral Autocracy

Jan 1, 2023 | Sabanci University

Democratic backsliding refers to the decline or reversal of democratic principles and practices within a political system. This can be caused by the weakening of democratic institutions and the...

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...