The word “democracy” often conjures up a basic understanding of a system in which the decisions and actions of a society are guided by the collective will of the people.
The practical implementation of that, however, often falls short. A few examples that come to mind are hot-button topics like universal background checks on gun sales, multilateral climate change initiatives and abortion rights. Despite overwhelming support from the public, more often than not, governments fail to enact legislation to support these policies for a wide variety of reasons.
