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.

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear

A Green Card Once Meant Protection: Now it is Fear By Fotios E. Meimeteas Imagine you are a single mother in the United States, raising four children who depend on you. You have established a new life, built a home, paid taxes, and lived in the United States for...

Food Security is Rooted Abroad

Global fertilizer supply chains connect geopolitical events abroad to food production at home in ways most consumers don’t see.

The Meaning of Silence : What the moment of silence for Melissa Hortman says about American democracy

On June 14, 2025, the lives of Melissa Hortman who was a House speaker in Minnesota and her husband Mark were taken in what authorities believe to be a politically motivated act of violence. The same day Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and...

The Elimination of Autonomous Agencies and Democratic Erosion within Mexico

Mar 9, 2026 | Featured, University of Houston

In November 2024, Mexico’s government dismantled one of its most important democratic transparency institutions. Through a constitutional reform, the government dissolved...

January 6: A Stress Test for American Democracy

Mar 9, 2026 | University of Houston

When we hear the word “democratic crisis,” most of us picture something dramatic. A military takeover or a government collapsing overnight. The kind of thing that feels...

The Creation of the National Constituent Assembly

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The National Constituent Assembly Creation Venezuela was once seen as a country that seemed to be on the right track to democracy in Latin America, but that changed when Hugo Chavez took power in...

Election-Deniers as Political Officials, American Democracy in Peril

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The democratic institutions of the United States of America are in a highly precarious position. In the 2020 presidential election Donald Trump tested the guardrails of Democracy in every way he...

Sign of the Times: Viktor Orban’s Anti-Democratic and Xenophobic Anti-Immigration Campaign

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

Across the bucolic Hungarian countryside, in cities and villages both large and small, massive billboards and signs dot the landscape. Upon closer inspection, these signs are covered in xenophobic...

Germany Begins Discussions Entering a New Era of Worldwide Democracy

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

The Futures Forum On November 3, 2022, Germany hosted the inaugural Futures Forum in Muenster. The U.S. took part in the forum as part of a joint effort agreed upon in July 2021 by President Biden...

How Populism Let the Political Wing of a Terrorist Organization Win in Northern Ireland

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

In May 2022, Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland’s largest nationalist party, won the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, marking the first time a nationalist party in support of a reunited Ireland...

Doomed From the Start (a Study of National Unity in Serbia)

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

In 2017, Serbian democracy officially reverted to authoritarianism. This comes after the constitution written in 2006 at Serbia’s establishment as an independent state began eroding in 2013. The...

Conflict in Romania’s Double-Executive Government Shows Potential Signs of Democratic Backsliding

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

Prior to the EU summit in June 2012, the Romanian prime minister, Victor Ponta, disregarded a ruling by the Romanian Constitutional Court, which declared the president had the authority to choose...

Right Wing Populism in Spain: How the VOX Party Serves as an International Threat to Climate Change

Nov 27, 2022 | Boston University

VOX, a right-wing populism party in Spain, is renowned for its denial of global warming. Experts believe this is the reason for its political success as the party was established in 2013 with...

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed: Peacemaker or Authoritarian?

Nov 26, 2022 | Boston University

On November 3rd, 2022 the Tigray war in Ethiopia came to a cease fire. Both sides, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government, agreed to permanently stop the...