[__egb__]

Maybe the lack of nuance is due to learning, through decades of experience, that the assumption “it won’t be done right” can be baked in.

[wongarsu]

So people have a decades-long expectation that local government will fail them?

This does sound plausible, but it's also pretty sad and not a sign of a healthy democracy

[jfengel]

I'm hard pressed to think of anyone who believes that America has a healthy democracy. Even those most recently elected continually claim that democracy is under threat.