Bad News for you, NMRN. Many countries have been out of Democracy Salad for a long time. Mostly due the absence of Democracy. Maybe we need to define Democracy before we declare a shortage. When the concept of Democracy was taught to me in school it was basically "give everyone the facts and let each person cast their vote, majority wins". Some will argue democracy is more nuanced than that which is fine, but I think my basic definition holds true. Lack of facts, that's the problem. I used to enjoy a good debate, not anymore. Everyone comes to the podium with their own "facts".
Agreed. Democracy faces multiple problems, that were not foreseen at the time constitutions, whether codified or not, were written. The public being fed lies as "facts" by or on behalf of unscrupulous political actors without effective counters is one. Wealthy individuals and companies being able to influence the public and politicians indirectly by using their money, lobbying and marketing techniques is another. The advent of social media and current shady but very effective practices of "knowing customer preferences" (think tracking cookies and worse) and targeting ads exactly where the effect is optimal is another. Rather dumb and naive policies in western democracies in past decades, where integration wasn't a requirement for immigrants is another. Economics should be a compulsory subject in school (a pet peeve for me), and it not being so makes the public more gullible for lies thrown at them. The number of (sometimes pretty well educated) people who think the government could easily print enough money to pay for expenses rather than increase taxes, without any real repercussions, is staggering, just to give an example. Lastly, Juan Peron (former president of Argentina, husband of Evita) may have been one of the first successful populist politicians, but he was by no means the last. We seem to be in an era where populism or even fascism seem to be taking hold in many countries. In my own country the currently biggest political party is a populist one with a very outspoken islamophobic character, thriving on a popular wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. This same sentiment has been a big driver in the popularity of the AfD (Alternative Für Deutschland) party in Germany, is pushing the fascistoid Front National in France, has brought Meloni to power in Italy, and in my opinion fueled the Brexit vote in the UK to a large extent. One only needs to look at the current chaos in the US to realize that populist/fascist worries are not restricted to Europe at all.
