The Problems With Democracy

 I was having a little think about democracy the other day and a few things became clearer:

• First and most obviously, the UN is not a democratic institution when any member of the Security Council can exercise a veto. This must change.
• Ignoring the above, the UN operates on democratic principles, yet it admits to its members countries that are implacably opposed to democracy. Chucking them out, however, facilitates a powerful cabal of dictators. Keeping them in the fold at least blunts their actions, although they gum up the wheels of democracy.
• One of democracy's inherent weaknesses is accountability and the length of time a democratic government has a mandate. In ancient Athens, accountability was more immediate and, if a leader was showing signs of weakness or exercising policies that clearly weren't working, that leader could be chucked out immediately, not after 4 or 5 years during which time fortunes could be made by the unscrupulous and corrupt. We need to develop more immediate accountability so disastrous courses can be changed early; however, would the short-termism we already suffer from then turn into hyper-short-termism and little, if any, long term planning?
• Most importantly, the largest weakness in democracy is we the electorate, who are occasionally phenomenally adept at putting people in charge who are eminently unsuitable to wielding the levers of power. We simply love poking ourselves in the eye because many of us are totally ignorant of consequences. As someone once said, half of us are below average. Should there, indeed, be a test of suitability for receiving the precious gift of a vote, beyond simply breathing? What shape would that test take though, as even a highly educated person can show incredibly bad judgement when it comes to voting - Eton proves that. A minimum term in public front-line service, perhaps, to show concern for others?