That's an overly simplistic perspective that ignores how the political process itself shapes the choices and opinions of people. For an extreme example, in the

That's an overly simplistic perspective that ignores how the political process itself shapes the choices and opinions of people. For an extreme example, in the democratic part of his rise to power, Hitler never called for war with Europe. As soon as he gained power, he instituted mass propaganda and suppressed any dissent, so by the time he started annexing and invading Austria and Poland he was enjoying real and massive popular support. A very similar story with Putin unfolded in the last 20 years, a crescendo of democratic erosion, stifling of dissent, revisionist nationalism, militarism and finally mass murder. The Russian people went alongside Putin every step of the road. The hope here is that by tinkering with subtle features of the political system, it's less politically profitable to push extreme "us versus them" narratives; that is, candidates that are palatable to the majority gain the upper hand against those that have the support of the most extreme, well organized and motivated minority.