[Verse 1] Nineteen forty-two, an economist cuts the fat Schumpeter says forget the myth, forget the people's chat Not some mystical will, not a shared utopian dream Just leaders in a scrum, competing for the gleam Minimal and lean, like an engine stripped of chrome Democracy's a contest for who gets to steer the home No grand philosophy required, no sacred common good Just ballots as the referee, counted like they should [Chorus] Count the votes, open the gates, let the losers leave the race That's the story, that's the glory, democracy's embrace Schumpeter, Dahl, and Przeworski, stacked up case by case Competition, inclusion, and losing with grace [Verse 2] Robert Dahl in seventy-one sketches a graph so plain Two axes crossing, catching every nation's strain Contestation on one side, can rivals organize and fight Can the opposition print a paper, argue through the night Participation's the other, who's allowed to cast a vote Only landlords in the parlor, or does the whole town get to gloat Score high on both together, you earn the name polyarchy Miss one and you're a hybrid, miss both, an autocracy [Chorus] Count the votes, open the gates, let the losers leave the race That's the story, that's the glory, democracy's embrace Schumpeter, Dahl, and Przeworski, stacked up case by case Competition, inclusion, and losing with grace [Verse 3] Adam Przeworski boils it down to one blunt little test Forget the speeches, forget the flag pinned to the chest Democracy's alive when the incumbent loses clean Packs the office boxes, exits quiet from the scene If generals lose the count and still salute the new regime That's the pulse, that's the proof, democracy's steam Uncertain outcomes paired with rules that never bend Losers who won't leave the stage just prove it was pretend [Verse 4] Now how do scholars measure what we just defined up here Freedom House hands out report cards: free, partly free, severe Polity scores the muscle, negative ten up to positive ten Dictatorship's basement floor, democracy's high pen V-Dem digs five layers deep with indices they trace Liberal, deliberative, egalitarian space Researchers chart the decades, watch the needle slide and swing Comparative politics rides these numbers like a string [Bridge] Sort the regimes in columns, track the rise and the retreat Costa Rica climbing steady, Hungary losing its seat Numbers tell a story that a slogan never could A scorecard for the ballot box, measured where it stood [Outro] Schumpeter, Dahl, Przeworski, the measuring crew Freedom House and Polity, V-Dem counting too Competition, inclusion, and losing with grace That's democracy defined, that's the final case
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