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The quality of a democracy is affected by a huge number of factors, which could broadly be sorted into two categories: the human factors and the institutional factors which influence each other. The institutions are a reflection of the human who created them, and human behaviour is often directly influenced by the institutions. In order to improve our democracies, it can be useful to distinguish the human versus the institutional factors, and the ways they interact with each other.
On October 25 2023, the United States House of Representatives voted, 220–209, to elect Mike Johnson as the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
On October 25, 2023, a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 others during a shooting spree at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, United States.
What is the connection between these two seemingly completely unrelated events which happened on the same day, only a few hours apart?
The main institutional factors are:
In order of (arguably) decreasing importance, the main human factors are:
Is democracy a fragile system destined to fail because of the flaws of human nature? Democracy is only as good as the people who wield its power. We ask: what kind of democracy would emerge from a nation of saints versus a nation of 'little devils,' and what does it tell us about our own responsibility?