Most people believe government is broken; that the lives of those charged with setting policy are irrelevant to our own, and that the policies they set fail to build a better community.
It's a belief that is enveloping voters the world over, as policy failures dominate the daily headlines.
Take education and the treatment of vulnerable children as examples. Just as Australia struggles to understand why our students are flailing in international tests, so too are similar challenges dominating the education debate in the United States and across Europe.
The same applies to aged care and childcare, and health costs.
Policies are failing us as well as those we care about: our parents and our children.
So enter Donald Trump, the unlikeable, big businessman who has turned US politics on its head.
The anti-politician who is even eschewing the traditional bells-and-whistles January inauguration.
The billionaire businessman who is filling his cabinet with business leaders, not experienced politicians with an understanding of foreign affairs, the public service or Washington.
The US president-elect who is not going to bother with daily security meetings because he says he doesn't need to hear the same thing every day.
The thrice-married Republican wonder boy who has turned his head on decades of foreign diplomacy.
The reality TV star who doesn't follow the media rules, nor the rules of his own party, and who uses Twitter as a way to speak to voters, and attack those whose opinions deviate from his own.
In some ways it's refreshing. But in other ways, it's utterly frightening.
Either way, it's a direct result of voters wanting a government that is different. And to many, a bet on an outsider, after years of losing, is worth a shot.
Indeed, ask New Yorkers who despise Donald Trump why they feel like that, and they are unlikely to mention his political affiliations. The most common answer is that he got away with not paying taxes, when they did.
In New York – where voters strongly backed his Democrat opponent – you can't walk down the street without a reminder, every five minutes, that there's a new and very different bloke on the block.
For a start, he works from Trump Towers, often meaning road closures in the middle of the country's busiest city. Secret service, police dogs, riot squad and local NY officers fill the sidewalks, at a cost of up to $500,000 a day.
But he'll slip across – as much as a US president-elect can – to his restaurant inside another building that bears his name for lunch, meaning a huge operation is set in progress.
In souvenir shops, tourists line up for Make America Great Again caps and nodding Donald dolls, chocolate bars and fake Trump dollars.
With his election, voters have climbed aboard a political roller-coaster, just as they chose to do with Brexit in the United Kingdom and even One Nation here in Australia.
"Mr Trump's victory may have been unforeseen to few but himself but it was an upset waiting to happen. Western democracy is unlikely to be the same again," Edward Luce wrote this week in the Financial Times.
And there is no doubt Donald Trump's reign will be dominated by his own strong personality; a point made by the The New York Times in its editorial this week, when it compared his election to power with popular Netflix drama The Crown.
"The Crown spins a fantasy in which all that matters in ruling is personal strength, tactical skill and charisma. This fantasy is not so different from the one Donald Trump has created around himself – that his celebrityhood and personality are all that's needed to fix any problem."
It's a cracking point, and therein lies the risk in Donald Trump's presidency. No modern leader has won a place in political history through the "my way or the highway" practice of politics.
At home here, just consider Campbell Newman in Queensland. Or Kevin Rudd in Canberra.
Our cab driver to New York's JFK airport reckons he can see the disappointment that will be wrought by Trump's personality already.
"When has he ever done something for someone else?" he asked. He didn't expect an answer. "Everything he does is for Donald Trump."
Central Park, in the middle of Manhattan, is home to another of the billionaire's landmarks – the Trump carousel.
It's loud and flashy and goes round and round in circles, without ever really going anywhere. And if our cab driver is right, our ride on it might be the most fitting Donald Trump souvenir of all.
Madonna King: Trump is what happens when government fails us too often
