The west has the best functioning democracies, unless you can provide better examples. No true Scotsman.

I'm not disagreeing with that, nor am I packing up my bags to move out of the United States at the moment.

However, "the best we've got right now" is just a local maxima.

That's something, that makes me shiver, too!

Note that "best functioning" can be worlds different from "well functioning."

"no true scotsman" only applies when you are attempting to continually redefine something after the fact, it has nothing to do with the claims made here.

Still you cling on black and white thinking and to the notion, that things will never change.

They do!

Also: Who on earth says, that there is even one good functioning democracy at all?

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." Churchill

That is a valid question.

Good speech about it: Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2z9lV3W1g

There are very few (if any) states that practice true democracy in its purest form (i.e. every decision is voted on by every person in the state). It is an ideal like pure capitalism that you can get very close to but not emulate.

I think it's a given that we're actually talking about republics, and not about spherical cows.