In the Western world, we have been educated to celebrate and cherish democracy. Yet if we compare what our democracies deliver with what we’re told that they ought to deliver, we must acknowledge that they seem to deliver a lot of what the people dislike, like chronic crises and wars, while all too often failing to deliver what people do desire: peace, prosperity and security. That implies that at best, our democracies are ineffective at turning people’s aspirations into policies. At worst, they impede the democratic process by design.

Alex Krainer