Many in the West seem fixated on the process, as if the end point of "democracy" is success in holding an election. The European country where I live holds exemplary elections; no voting machines allowed, we vote with paper ballots and red pencils. Never a whiff of impropriety. Yet in terms the outcome, namely the standard of living, we only see steady, highly uneven decline. (Shared sacrifices? Hah!) Our governance system is profoundly rotten, is "democratic" in name only.
Many in the West seem fixated on the process, as if the end point of "democracy" is success in holding an election. The European country where I live holds exemplary elections; no voting machines allowed, we vote with paper ballots and red pencils. Never a whiff of impropriety. Yet in terms the outcome, namely the standard of living, we only see steady, highly uneven decline. (Shared sacrifices? Hah!) Our governance system is profoundly rotten, is "democratic" in name only.