I am a US citizen, and right now, we are in the middle of the transition of power that we see every four to eight years. It has got me thinking about what an incredible time we live in. It is just not in America, either, but in a huge portion of the world, the people in power simply step aside and a new regime steps in every few years. Most democratic countries have this tempered with other governing bodies, such as Congress in the US, and a powerful bureaucracy, so that even with the transition of power, everyday functions continue uninterrupted. This is a fairly new concept in the history of the world, as long lasting Dynasties, Lords, Caesars, Chiefs and Kingdoms had been the source of power.
For all the back and forth about having a new president here in the US, the average person will wake up today and go about their business without much change. This is not to say that elected officials don't have a huge impact on what happens in the long term of their respective country. In fact, this may be an issue with such an easy transition of power, that citizens fail to see the importance of putting the right people in elected positions. As the governmental machine chugs a long, it better be going in the right direction, as it has become really hard to turn it around with such an easy transition every few years. I hate to use the Who line, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," but think about it, if your life really doesn't change "by the man that's elected," you better trust in the reason that the transition of power is easy because the people choose it to be that way, and not the power structure itself.
Did you guess I was headed where I went on this one, I sure didn't?