I promise I'm not going to argue about abortion, but it's the most obvious example I can see here. If the "ceremonial" change in government that happened in th

I promise I'm not going to argue about abortion, but it's the most obvious example I can see here. If the "ceremonial" change in government that happened in the US in 2016 had gone the other way, we would 100% guaranteed not see the Roe v. Wade ruling being overturned. It will be a judicial action that reverses this policy, but it required the election of Trump to happen. This is not a slight tweak. The count of the votes in that election resulted in real policy differences. Nothing ceremonial about it. This isn't kayfabe. Ask a UK fisherman how real the impact of the 2016 Brexit vote was. My the thinnest of margins, a non-binding referendum gave an elected government what they needed to make dramatic changes in policy. No tweaking here. Of course I won't pretend that all power rests in the hands of "The People." Yes, civil servants, judges, and media barons all have vast amounts of power to agitate for war, ban e-cigarettes, or legislate from the bench. But the people do have one lever, and I'm glad our culture considers poo-poohing it a taboo.