4.7 A Pretty Rotten System — Until The Alternatives Are Examined
From Political Freedom and Democracy by LJM Cooray (1996)

When all is said and done the critics of the representative democratic system will say

"It is a pretty rotten system"

and so it is — until the alternatives are examined. The strengths of the system are obvious only when it is compared with other existing and past systems of government. This is a dimension which critics of the system do not think about sufficiently and which its supporters do not highlight.