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Yes, this has been indeed a dismal election, one that has disturbed and saddened many Americans and many friends and admirers of the USA. It’s sad that neither of the two great American parties has come up with a better candidate for the White House. But America and American democracy will survive the next presidency. They will do so because their institutions are robust, and because the commitment expressed by the Founding Fathers to “€œlife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”€ holds firm.

So we shouldn”€™t despair of the USA and we shouldn”€™t despair of representative democracy. As Churchill told the House of Commons, all other forms of government that have been tried from time to time are worse. Democracy alone has the ability to correct its mistakes, and to adapt to new circumstances without state violence.