Hmmm… The venerable Economist magazine's research arm yesterday booted the United States off its list of "full democracies," demoting Ronald Reagan's "shining city on a hill" to a mere "flawed democracy."

This happened in the wake of the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. However, the impeccably right-wing British magazine's Economist Intelligence Unit generously concluded, it was not because of it.

That is to say, the researchers for the pretentious news magazine for people who wish they were rich didn't blame the decline in American democracy on Trump. They blamed Trump on the decline in American democracy.

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Last week, the scowling man, south of the border, who quite decisively lost the popular vote but nonetheless snookered a victory in his country's Electoral College, said:

"For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost."

And then he added:

Four key steps were taken toward electoral reform in 2016. A multi-partisan committee of MPs worked together to submit a majority report recommending proportional representation. A new Alliance of 62 groups called Every Voter Counts was formed to advocate for equal and effective votes. P.E.I. rejected the majoritarian options on the ballot in a plebiscite and a majority voted for a mixed-member proportional voting system. Finally, Justin Trudeau reasserted his promise to change the voting system and confirmed he will introduce legislation in May 2017.

With their recent actions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government risk creating the conditions for right-wing populism to flourish in Canada.

The trend is becoming clear in the West: if the choice is between out of touch, elitist, neoliberal corporatists, or right-wing populists, the right-wing populists have a good shot.