> Democracy and hegemony are coupled by means of managed democracy, where the elections are free and fair but the people lack the actual ability to change the policies, motives and goals of the state<p>Can anyone refute this at this point? I can't see any way to win an election without a giant war chest. Money basically directly buys votes. The only way to change that is to get the message out to people that they need to vote all these people out, and no one can do that because the people in power are the only ones controlling the narrative.