The US is not a good example of a functioning democracy. Our federal representatives have to represent 700,000 people. The state legislatures get to shape the

The US is not a good example of a functioning democracy. Our federal representatives have to represent 700,000 people. The state legislatures get to shape the federal districts, which means the representatives effictively get to pick their voters instead of the other way around. Our senate is grossly undemocratic, giving each state two representatives regardless of population, leading to minority rule. And our presidential election system is expressly anti-democratic. There are lots of good examples of better functioning democracies and a fair amount of theory on reforms that could improve even those (things like ranked choice voting). That's why I said "Build the most responsive democracy we can".