The Arab Spring put several revolutions in motion in the Middle East and North Africa. However, Tunisia was the only country that succeeded with a democratization process, making the country a fairly new democracy. Simultaneously, independent research networks and organizations whose main focus is democracy and democratic values such as Freedom House, V-Demand the Arab Barometer are presenting worrying information about democracy around the world. Democracy is in crises - evident by the remarkable decline or erosion in democratic norms and practices. While scholars have already begun investigating the causes of democratic deconsolidation or backsliding in the context of western democracies, notably those of western Europe and the US, still little is known with regards to new democracies from other parts of the globe. To fill this research gap, this qualitative case study focuses on Tunisia, with the core objective to investigate whether or not Tunisia is experiencing democratic deconsolidation. By using the three criteria described by the political scientist Yascha Mounk in his deconsolidation theory, the result suggests that while democratic values are still quite strong amongst the Tunisian citizens, it is evident that a majority of the Tunisian citizens are experiencing institutional dissatisfaction and low institutional trust.

The American democracy is experiencing strain from the erosion of democratic norms and its political, judicial, social, and economic institutions. In short, the American democracy shows signs of democratic deconsolidation. Community colleges are higher education institutions that help consolidate the U.S. democracy by representing democratic values such as equality and opportunity. The purpose of my study was to explore how selected community college presidents understand and articulate the responsibility of their institutions to prepare students for a meaningful role in the American democracy. Qualitative narrative inquiry methods, including in-depth semistructured interviews and document analysis, were used to collect data for the study. Three primary themes emerged from the data that addressed the purpose of this study: 1) community college philosophy: blueprint for a vision, 2) consolidating local democracies, and 3) citizens as students, students as citizens. These three themes supported further interpretation of the data that was organized under these headings, 1) the community college democratic mission, 2) community colleges help deepen democracy, and 3) the role of community colleges in the American democracy: public goods, private goods. In summary, my research found that first, my participants believed that community colleges have a responsibility to the American democracy and this responsibility is reflected in their community college mission. Second, my participants framed the American democracy as a continual work in progress and that community colleges help deepen democracy. Third, for my participants, community colleges are not merely distinct in their institutional mission and philosophy, but in their role in supporting the American democracy.

Is support for democracy decreasing among the young? Attitudes among the young tell us about the future of democracy. Today, support is declining in the USA and researchers disagree about whether the same is true for Western Europe. Some researchers believe that there is cause for concern while others argue that the young generation is more tolerant and have higher aspirations for democracy, which means that we do not need to worry. According to the theory of generational replacement and its scarcity and socialization hypotheses, diffuse support for democracy as well as tolerance should be stable or even increasing in the young cohorts. Using a quantitative method and data from the European Values Study, these parameters along with specific support will be measured in the countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which are most-likely cases to have strong support for democracy among citizens. The main findings are that diffuse support seems to be stable in the young cohort in all countries except Denmark, where there is a slight decline. Specific support fluctuates over time and tolerance is highest among the young cohort but declining over time in the older cohorts in Denmark and Norway. The results predict that support for democracy will remain although there are some signs of challenges ahead.