Is democracy’s dangerous path inevitable?

Three years after the raid on the Capitol, when supporters of Donald Trump tried to block the ratification of Joe Biden's election, it is inconceivable that the possibility of Trump's being elected again in November can still be the subject of serious discussion. Not only because the democratic institutions of the United States allow the former president to campaign even as he is prosecuted for a number of crimes allegedly committed in business and politics, but because there seems to be something fatalistic in the expectation of a new Trump term. Democracy appears to raise its arms in surrender when dealing with people or movements who ignore the rules of the game and threaten the polity. It is as if democracy demands difficult tests to prove that it is not manipulated by anyone - even if this leads to its manipulation. 

Aristotle feared that democracy...