I'm a skeptic but I have to admit, elections have been on an impressive run lately

Toronto Star · Rick Salutin · 2026-11-06 10:00 UTC

Elections viewed with a judicious skepticism can give you a feeling of partial total redemption and help you carry on toward future disasters.

Speaking generally, there’s little to say in praise of elections. Elections are what they give us instead of real democratic participation. We mark an X beside a name, then go away for years with no involvement in the political process till another flimsy moment comes and goes. You could call it Democracy Minus.

I’ve been whining about this for decades and even wrote a book about one of Canada’s liveliest elections. It was called “Waiting for Democracy.”

Elections, however, have been on an impressive run lately. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s dictator in all but name, who’d seemed to block all electoral routes to tossing him, was voted out by a mass movement led by a former colleague.

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