Proof of the electorate's disaffection is that if voters are given a chance to vote for someone different, they jump at it. John McCain's win in the New Hampshire primary with two-thirds of the independent vote illustrated this. The conservative Arizona senator ran against the entrenched GOP political system in town meetings throughout the state. In the end, McCain had to capitulate to George Bush's money and organization. But his experience, along with the Reform Party model, is what is currently galvanizing Ralph Nader in states like California and Michigan.
Elections are one gauge of political democracy.
Protest is another. In the 1960s, the New Left turned its back on electoral politics and took to the streets. It is a minor irony that what the leaders of that movement fantasized as revolution today has devolved into the stuff of caricature. Currently, a demo is likely to be a nostalgic affair, with the nuclear or extended family setting off to march against nuclear power or boo the NRA, listen to a folk-influenced singer or two, and then head to a vegan restaurant or a trendy bar. Thus, postmillennial protest has become fodder for fashion statements and ads.