Except for all the Others...

Remember the Winston Churchill line that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." Well, we know pretty clearly what makes democracy terrible, how exasperatingly slow it can be, how riddled with obstacles and roadblocks, how difficult to reach a final outcome. It takes forever to get anything accomplished, and even then, the final result is ordinarily just a pale version of our original intent. Yes, we know all that, but what makes it better than all the others? I would say it is the wisdom of crowds principle. When the populace has a chance to be heard, when the full range of peoples' opinions is aired, the outcome comes pretty close to what is best for all of us. Democracy can be laborious and frustrating, but the real problem of democracy is simply that we have never had enough of it. The more we can do to get people actively involved in thinking through and acting on what is best for their communities, the better off all of us will be.