Democracy doesn't build anything. It's just the "lowest common denominator mob rule" stage between limited govt & total collapse into authoritarianism.
Discussion
Let me rephrase - the institutions that were built with (more or less) the consent of the governed
Those institutions and the elites who inherited them are determined to keep them, despite having completely lost the consent of the governed
Consent of the governed comes from prosperity, not some token vote in an election
And consent of the governed is very easy to measure - just look at the White House’s downvotes on YouTube before they got rid of them 😂