The way that politicians today fight over democracy, with no restraint or shame, has made it highly prized prey. In Austria, Green MP Alex Korun was probably quite right to see the election of the environmentalist candidate Alexander Van der Bellen as president of the country as a “victory for Austrian civil society”which had roused itself late in the day to prevent the victory of a right-wing extremist. A few hours later, however, the populist leader of the Five Star Movement, Beppe...