One of the reasons for the poor performance of democracies is extreme inequality. The difference in wealth between the majority of the population and the richest is enormous and feeds all the horsemen of the Apocalypse. Extreme inequality is a threat to the democratic societies, and aspiring autocrats are ready to profit from it. This threat has been recognized by many economic and social thinkers, such as Bertrand Russell, Francis Fukuyama, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz or Paul Krugman, including some openly conservative persons, such as Alan Greenspan.
https://jijorquera.wixsite.com/onscienceandsociety/post/progress-vii-extreme-inequality-is-a-threat-to-democracy
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