When other countries look at U.S., do they see a democracy or a dictatorship?

[Igel]

15. "Democracy" also took a hit over the last 10-15 years for another reason.

If you watched a lot of protests and quasi-revolutions, the signs and spokesfolk often seemed to point to the equivalence of democracy = (fast) prosperity.

In other words, dictatorship = poverty.

What happened is that in some cases "democracy" was put in place, whether formal and superficial or fairly thorough-going, and prosperity didn't immediately ensue.

Abductive logic got them to a false conclusion (as it often does, it's not real logic but puts on a good act). GIGO.