When it is not subsidized by massive money, Liberal Democracy sluggishly addresses one problem to the next. But each time it "resolves" a problem, the problem had escalated and fundamentally changed shape. Thus, barely managed, continual, decline, peppered by everything it never addresses.
Liberal democracy doesn't have to be the shitshow it is currently, but it arguably cannot function in its current state because it's ultimately the product of a bygone era meant to operate under specific conditions. Those conditions?
IMO:
(1) Small populations.
(2) A shared moral code/foundation of ethics amongst its population.
(3) Economical flexibility.
Those 3 not being abided by lead to a lot of issues. Arguably the inability to do (3)* lead to (1) which created (2).
*
China begins to take Western-grown manufacturing away. To deal with economical decline and unemployment, gov's up spending, cut taxes, and didn't reverse course when it began to fuck with things. They import masses of would-be "tax payers" (extra burden) diametrically opposed to the ethics/moral foundations of the state they immigrate to, and then they try to abide by the wants of these new additions based on "consensus" which often contradicts the native majority.
Though some might disagree, America has been a "Liberal Democracy" since its very inception (based strictly on premise of Lockean principles (moral duty not infringe on and protect the free will of others – based on Christian) + "Vote for your leader" government) but similar to the example I gave with the French, it's bad at responding to problems as they arrive because it does so under "consensus"* and acting within the confines they've been given (constitutions, explicit or otherwise**.
*
The French government's solution to Napoleon's popularity in 1851 was to restrict the ability for the people to form a consensus by further restricting people's right to vote.
**
The only example of a non-written constitution that was abided by for the most part is the UK, explicit infringements were made (taxation) in the mid-1800s
Most governments are a product of reaction, and so foresight (especially centuries in advance) is very rarely employed in creating them. Washington
did recognise a consequence of political parties, which cause many problems in of themselves, but he likely only saw the issue after a near-decade in office.
Because foresight can only go so far this leads to issues down the line when you combine inflexibility with the self-preservation of future politicians. Many current situations/problems come from those that resist change, and the country tend to decline and die in the long-term.
The UK changed the centralisation of authority from king to legislature in the late 18th century, further cemented the legislatures power in the 19th, attempted change with devolution in the late 20th/early 21st centuries, however the reason this didn't ultimately help avert current problems is power still remained ultimately vested in the legislature, which we've seen ebb and flow over the centuries. France was seeing issues with its centralisation in the 20th century and was saved (lmao) from possible civil war due to being invaded. After the far they ratified a new constitution in '58 that saw more centralisation in the president (away from legislature), then greater regional autonomy in the early 80s (effectively to the same fruitless end as the UK).
Off the top of my head, America saw two large shifts to the status quo. Creation of the supreme court (decentralisation), then the civil war (leading to the states becoming more like federal provinces instead of nations in a confederation i.e. state centralisation), then the direct election of senators near the turn of the 20th century (decentralisation). It's possible there's been more or less but I think attempting to resist reforms of where the power ultimately resides and trying to maintain the authority of status quo is what creates a lot of problems to begin with.
In a Democracy you ought to try to be truly representative of the people, which requires decentralising authority, which of course Congress/Commons/National Assembly isn't going to go for. And even when trying to be representative of "the people", it's now been mired by the inclusion of "people" who
aren't apart of "
the people". Democracy was swell when the population capped out at 10 million, begins seeing problems at 30 million (US civil war, French revolution and coup d'etat, Peterloo Massacre and others – all occurred when the populations of these states, all democracies, climbed over 20 million people) and it gets gradually worse from there.
Neoliberalism and the willing symbiosis Neoconservatism has with it hasn't helped things and only hastened the decline with rapid speed. Problems being caused by external powers is one thing, problems caused by the people another, but politicians having an ideological imperative to have morality/ethics based on popularity? When said popularity fickle, and influenced by outside people (media, immigrants, etcetera)? Complete, self-destructive retardation. There's
zero moral justification to preserve civil rights outside of what people supposedly want.
If you want an non-political example of how Neoliberalism works, do you remember when Sony put Morbius back in theatres because of the memes surrounding it? How they assumed discourse, both negative and ironically positive, meant people wanted it? It's that. Neoconservatism in that scenario would then be keeping the movie in theatres forever because according to Neoliberalism it's what people want.
TLDR: Liberal Democracies were a product of the 17/1800s and decline in effectiveness with the correlation of population and lack of decentralisation because after a certain point they cease to be representative of the people due to the sheer scale of numbers. The moral impetus for Liberalism (Preservation and protection of free will from God's granting of it) has been replaced by a popularity-based form of morality which gives no reason for politicians to value liberty based on any intrinsic merit.