Whether democracy is “a lie” depends on what the thing it is supposed to be is. If it is supposed to channel the collective spirit/collective will of the popul

Whether democracy is “a lie” depends on what the thing it is supposed to be is. If it is supposed to channel the collective spirit/collective will of the populace, well, it doesn’t do that, because there is no such collective spirit. If instead it is a mechanism to avoid succession crises, and also tend to pick options that are in alignment with an overwhelming consensus, then the systems in place are actually quite good at those things (though there is still definitely room for improvements to be made on the latter thing). If what democracy means is the first thing, then it is false. If it means the second thing, it is true.