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.

How American Political Structures Helped Trump Grab Power

Apr 12, 2024 | Uncategorized, William Jewell College

The United States of America is often regarded as one of the oldest modern democracies. The U.S. constitution is well known as a forefront in “the democratic experiment” and...

The Relevance of Belarusian Backsliding

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

The Cold War may have ended some decades ago, but the tensions between the West and Russia seem to be heating up once again. In the east, Ukraine is a hotbed of tension as Russian vehicles and...

Loss of Institutional Knowledge and Expertise: An Underappreciated Consequence of Violent Threats Directed at U.S. Election Officials

Mar 14, 2022 | Brown University

Violent threats against election officials in the U.S. were at an all-time high during and following the 2020 election cycle — elected officials are leaving their jobs in what has been described as...

The Appeal of Discrimination to Populist Leaders

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

Populism has been defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as: a political movement which champions, or claims to champion, the common person, usually by favorable contrast with a real or perceived elite....

Tucker Carlson and the Mainstreaming of Authoritarianism

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

Grynbaum, Michael M. 2021. “Conservative Fellow Travelers: Tucker Carlson Drops In On Viktor Orban.” The New York Times, October 4, 2021....

How South Korea’s 2022 Presidential Election Redefined their Democracy

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

March 9, 2022, the day that sealed South Korea’s fate for the next five years. Citizens elected their thirteenth president through a popular voting system as Lee Jae-Myung from the Democratic Party...

Nations of Wealth: Resource Curse and its Impacts on Democracy

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

Since the dawn of civilization, resource acquisition and management has been of utmost interest. As populations grow, so do their demands for basic goods. The advent of the steam engine and the...

Trump and Sanders: Populism on the Right and the Left

Mar 14, 2022 | University of Georgia

https://medium.com/@marcushjohnson/bernie-sanders-and-donald-trump-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin-a862b80762e7 While scholars differ on an exact definition of populism, the overall consensus is that...

Governing Social Media in the United States of America

Mar 14, 2022 | Uncategorized, University of Georgia

In recent years the United States, as well as the rest of the globe, has been faced with a brand-new challenge that no political leader, policymaker, constitution writer, has ever been prepared for....