WEll I think the populace did ‘wise up’ this last election. I’m no fan of either party, but I do believe that IF the economy really starts to ‘lift all ships’, the GOP , idiots that most of them are, will stay in power for a good stretch.
Really, there aren’t any good Dem candidates on the scene right now either.
BTW, the Federalist Papers show that the Founders were well aware that democracies do not last long; they built as many safeguards into the system as they could, but they recognized that the DOI/Constitution would only work if the nation was composed of industrious, well-meaning and good people. IN their estimation, not very possible, but much better than totalitarianism.