No matter how frustrating democracy is, I think so many people forget that this is a *feature* and not a bug.

- Tobias Buckell.

Living in Belgium, as I do, this quote struck me as particularly pertinent. The country has had no government for 15 months, essentially because the Francophone and Flemish-speaking politicians really don’t trust each other much. But, because Belgium is a democracy – and one that understands what this means – this distrust has led to 15 months of discussions as the various political try to reach some sort of consensus.