[dragonwriter]

> Your comment ignores the existance of primaries and other democratic institutions that encourage political change.

No, it reflects the actual results of empirical study of democracies, notably that by Arend Lijphardt in Patterns of Democracy.

> The US's constant shifting political winds is evidence that it does work and works well

The poor satisfaction with government in the US and other limited-practical-choice democracies compared to democracies with more effective choice through the electoral system is evidence that it does not work in the judgement of the people actually subject to it as well as other democratic systems do.