> democratic US government

a Failed democracy perhaps.

US politicians are brought and sold by billionaires and corporate executives even before they get elected, and those "donors" are expecting a return on their investment, otherwise those donations dry up and they don't get re-elected.

You can vote for anyone you like, just remember that their allegiance is to their corporate backers, and not to the electorate.

almost any nation using some form of Proportional Representatio has a much more effective and democratic system than the US, 2-party, corporately owned, first past the post system.

and the Govt don't control the media, instead corporations own both the politicians and the propaganda that gets pushed through their media outlets. US corporate media has just as much propaganda and misinformation as anything out of China, Russia etc, and provides just as much tracking and surveillance as either of those nations.