demonstration election, n.Definitions

Demonstration election (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠staged in client states for the benefit of the home audience, dissolving any qualms about the terror around them.

A Demonstration election (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠staged for a foreign audience, and its clichés never vary: hope, long patient lines, patriotic pride, no sign of coercion, a first step toward democracy.

A Demonstration election (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always a "step toward democracy" when your own government sponsors it; an election in a country your government is destabilizing is always a sham.

A Demonstration election (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠staged in an occupied client state for the voters back home: proof that the intervention is welcome and that the invaded people have been given a democratic choice.