Other sovereign democratic states have central governments more corrupted other than our own, but most can fall back on unifying elements we lack: common ethnicity, a shared religion, or near-universal consensus on many fundamental political issues. The United States needs its central government to function cleanly, openly, and efficiently because it's one of the few things binding us together.
Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
culture, democracy, nationality, voting