> Not as much so in nations where people generally trust experts and government officials The election is where that trust is anchored at. Whether people trust

> Not as much so in nations where people generally trust experts and government officials The election is where that trust is anchored at. Whether people trust the current government can change. If trust in the election result and thus trust in the next government's legitimacy depends on trust in the current government, you have no safe way out of a situation where trust in the current government is gone--which ultimately is the reason we have elections in the first place: As long as everyone is content with the current government, you don't really need elections at all. The whole point of having elections is that you can change a government that you don't trust, should the need arise.