Concept

Democratic Procedures Can Persist While Shared Meaning Erodes

Democratic procedures can persist while shared meaning erodes—courts function, ballots count, transitions occur—alongside collapsing trust in economic narratives that once bound factions. Legitimacy requires enough shared meaning that losers accept outcomes as interpretable. When meaning erodes, losers accept procedures while believing the game is rigged—a brittle form of stability that shows up as permanent campaign mode for economic truth.