The degree to which liberal democracy ‘works’ is dependent on the health of capital

The more capital fails, the greater chance democracy slips into populism because capital can no longer address the needs of the people and sustain its infinite growth. Populism either leans left (redistribution of capital towards labor) or it leans right (consolidation of capital toward an ‘in’ group to the exclusion of the out groups), but once capital has failed there’s really no returning to liberal democracy*.

*edit - until capital re-balances, but will trend toward collapse again