[jakelazaroff]

The fact that Nigeria is a democracy doesn’t mean much on its own. In the US, for example, conservative politicians consistently oppose issues such as abortion, gun control and healthcare even though a healthy majority of the population support them. Another commenter alleges that the current Nigerian government is very unpopular, which doesn’t paint this decision in a great light.

Also: it’s misleading to suggest Jack Dorsey or Twitter supported protests against the government. His donation and the hashtag were for #EndSARS, which is an anti–police brutality movement.

[throwaway6250]

Doesn't the fact that these conservative politicians constantly get elected belie your statement that they are supported by a majority of the population? Trump opposed them all and yet won in 2016 and had a decent showing in 2020.

It used to be that everyone supported democracy -- the rural, the poor, the uneducated, along with urban, rich and educated all getting a say in their government. Not it seems some factions in the left have sold out to corporatocracy in a bid to fast track their favorite policies.

I don't think this is going to end well.

[jakelazaroff]

There are a lot of reasons that elected politicians don’t support the positions of most voters, one being that turnout of the voting-age population in the US tends to be just over 50% (with 2020 being an outlier). But I think we’re getting too deep into the analogy here. The point is that a democratically elected government is absolutely capable of making decisions opposed by a majority of its citizens.

[runarberg]

In the USA it is well known that popular opinion has little effect on policy. The last time a popular legislation got through was the affordable care act more then 10 years ago, and even that was only a half step in the direction that people wanted (universal healthcare).

Knowing that there is little incentive for USA voters to actually vote for a candidate based on policy. Instead you pick the person you hate less.