corruption
The proper functioning of a democracy is such that every adult citizen gets to participate equally in decision making as expressed in ‘one person, one vote’ and there is equal citizen access to representatives. Corruption is any action or process that deviates a system away from intended functioning. In the case of democracy, it would be anything that gives preferential power or access relative to other citizens. If you look around you’ll see corruption everywhere, legal and illegal.
The most urgent task ahead of us is to make our votes matter.