America 'catches up' with Third World democracies

Demonstrators gather to protest a day after President-elect Donald Trump's victory, at a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on November 9, 2016. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Donald Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic lanes late on November 9 as rage over the billionaire's election victory spilled onto the streets of US cities. From New York to Los Angeles, thousands of people in around 10 cities rallied against the president-elect a day after his stunning win, some carrying signs declaiming "Not our President" and "Love trumps hate." / AFP PHOTO/

The just-concluded American poll and its aftermath has completely shattered the unspoken myth that certain conduct is exclusively the preserve of Third World and emergent democracies.

Post-election violence, the use of foul language by politicians, taking advantage of divisions, intolerance to rival groups, aversion to defeat and pollsters-influence on elections have all been seen as idiosyncratic variables of Third World democracies - until Donald J Trump faced Hillary Clinton.