In what way does the German democracy derive from the UK? You are oversimplifying. I get what you are trying to say, but it's not just tradition and institutions. There is a lot more to it.

Western Germany was ruled for a short period by both the UK and the United States after World War II, where they spent a great deal of effort to setup a functional and self sufficient government. Prior to that they did have a short lived democratic government but Hitler saw to its demise rather quickly.

Even before the Weimar Republic Germany already had many democratic elements. There were political parties, a constitution, checks and balances for governing officers and a somewhat free press. The Kaiser could not rule despotically and had to take public opinion into account.

Germany has had democratic elements for half a millenium - the Holy Roman Empire was a sort-of democracy of nobles. But however you carve it, the current democracy in Germany is functioning very well, better and more representative than any of its forebears.

Democratic elements does not equate to true democracy. There weren't enough safeguards. It took a motivated Austrian less than ten years to undo them and turn Germany into a totalitarian state.

Ten years is actually a pretty long time for it to take a popular leader to destroy a functioning democracy.

There are numerous examples of democracies collapsing from what seemed a stable state much quicker than that.

The collapse of the French Fourth Republic in 1958 is a good example[1]. In that case it led to another democracy, but that is only because the army wanted de Gaulle, and de Gaulle was happy to be president in a parliamentary system.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fourth_Republic#Algeria...

> It took a motivated Austrian less than ten years to undo them and turn Germany into a totalitarian state.

I agree, that the Weimar republic was weak. Main problem was a missing election threshold, resulting in a divided, weak parliament. But some other minor things happened, too. For example several militaristic regimes packed on a small continent were competing to divide the world resulting in a world war, for which Germany was made solely accountable for and had to give up territory and pay huge reparations.

That might be a fact but it doesn't really support the OPs original idea right? "centuries of tradition and institutions to make it work well."

After WWII West Germany was created from the US, UK, and French partitions. At end of cold war East Germany absorbed into West Germany keeping the West Germany institutions.

Or, maybe, the Allies and Soviet Union won WW2, and both setup their system of government in the states they controlled and/or their former colonies as they became independent.

Then there was that whole cold war thing, and the USSR lost its client states, most of which adopted the political system of the winners.

The fact that so many democracies derive from the UK means that democracy is not a default state and to be successful needs centuries of tradition and institutions to make it work well.

I don't see how that follows at all. Democracy seems to be working out pretty well in Timor Leste, which doesn't have a long tradition, but not in Thailand, which does. Switzerland was never ruled by the UK and democracy works well, Zimbabwe was ruled by the UK and democracy hasn't worked out.

There's a lot more going on than some kind of simplistic explanation like this.

Everyone loves applying the term democracy but fails to look at the issues each nation faces.

The US didn't just become what it was over night. It faced very difficult issues at its birth especially with federal power. Luckily the right choices were made, but each case is going to have its own set of circumstances.

whaaa... Can you remind me when Germany was a UK colony?

After WWII when it was partitioned into British, American, French, and Soviet zones.

Latinamerica is highly democratic but was not ruled by the English. By itself is a big enough counter example.

Germany was well functioning democracy since the Bismarck unification.

The UK has nothing to do with it.