Censorship and lack of press freedom in Eritrea: In my previous blog posts, I’ve discussed patterns of democratic erosion in different cases. In this blog post, I would like to delve into the …
Pete Buttigieg: Court Reform or Court-Packing? by Charlotte Bairey
2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg had raised the idea court reform as a part of his platform. He has demonstrated interest in increasing the number of seats, or an appellate rotation plan. In …
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Pete Buttigieg: the anti-backsliding candidate? by Emily Maercklein
Day One in the Buttigieg Administration Compared to the policy-dense campaigns run by Bernie Sanders and other Democratic hopefuls, Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy has, thus far, been surprisingly free …
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Analyzing the Spanish Election: How Spain’s Far-Right Party Goes Beyond the Typical Confines of Populism by Aliza Oppenheim
The winner of Spain’s recent general election claims that his party “sent a message to the world that it’s possible to win against regression and authoritarianism.” Spain’s election was held on April …
Is Turkey a democracy? By Guilherme Soares
In March 2019, Turkey held mayoral elections in Istanbul. Istanbul has long been a source of power and prestige for President Erdoğan and his party and alliance. The stakes in the local Istanbul …
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Threats to a Healthy Democracy: Fake News, Populism, & the Anti-Vaccine Movement by Alexa Keith
On May 6, 2019, a drone dropped flyers outside of an Ariana Grande concert in Sacramento. The flyers read, “the press is the enemy”, “mob organized crime”, “police state/fascism”, and featured images …
American Political Polarization and the Discontent with Democracy By Ian Henson
Polarization is certainly a commonly cited cause of why the current governmental system and Congress seem to be unable to get anything substantial done. There are countless news stories about the …
Citizens in the Face of Polarizing Politics. Can we be the Gatekeepers? by Jorge Garrigo
On April 24th, a longtime Iowa republican state representative declared that he was leaving the Republican party. In his announcement Representative Andy McKean stated that the republican party had …