> To what extent is democracy just re-branding of the concept of letting the popularity contest winner run things? Not all democracies are created equal, and t

> To what extent is democracy just re-branding of the concept of letting the popularity contest winner run things? Not all democracies are created equal, and the Churchill quote is a grand feat of equivocation that paints many different systems as if they were a single immutable institution. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy where any citizen could get up and talk. Where officers were needed it mostly used a lottery system [0] instead of elections precisely because they were afraid that elections just become a popularity contest that favors the incumbent oligarchic interests. Generals were an exception because they had to be skilled at war. Handling money was also a skilled profession, and favored the rich so that the money could be recovered from their estate in the case of embezzlement. Politics, on the other hand, was not seen as a skilled profession, and what was important was loyalty to democratic ideals. Looking at the quality of politicians we have and the power of entrenched oligarchic interests in our society, it really makes me appreciate the wisdom of the ancients. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Officeholders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Officeholde...