How democratic are the institutions upon which we depend for the promotion and protection of democracy? The truth is that that many of them, especially the international ones, are not democratic at all. In most cases they are not even representative. This may seem to be a bit of a contradiction. It is not as contradictory or as undesirable as it at first appears. Even in the most dedicated democracies many officials that can have a profound effect on the lives of people and that can be very powerful in their own right are not elected but appointed, and they can be in charge of institutions that are likewise neither created nor run democratically. Heads of law enforcement agencies are good examples.  Read the rest of this post...