The Democratic Delusion: When Rhetoric Meets Reality and Fails The shimmering ideal of democracy, propagated globally as the pinnacle of human governance, promises a system where power resides with the people, accountability is paramount, and choices genuinely shape destiny. Yet, for billions across the globe, this vision increasingly feels like a cruel mirage. As the 21st century progresses, the real-world practice of democracy – in nations from the established West to the aspiring East – is revealing itself not as a beacon of progress, but often as a cumbersome, inefficient, and deeply compromised engine of public frustration and systemic failure. This is not a theoretical critique; it’s an examination of empirical disappointment. The grand pronouncements of people power and transparent governance frequently dissolve under the weight of political paralysis, manufactured consent, and an alarming absence of genuine accountability for even the most catastrophic blunders. While authorita...