How do we measure “democracy”? I think the best way is to measure how average citizen’s preferences influence policy.

One of the largest political studies in history, conducted by Princeton, attempted to measure this.

The Princeton University and Northwestern University study, titled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens”, concludes that the preferences of the average American have a “near-zero, statistically non-significant impact” on public policy.