Muslim countries have elections which seem to be more a façade than anything, so the rule of religion comes from the top down.
In America, our democracy indeed holds the power to change our leaders, so the rule of religion comes from the bottom up.
The only hope for a world which is primarily comprised of unbelievers is to question the irrational components of religion and convince enough people to reject dogmatic religion.
Politicians are all things to all people. Show me a successful politician and I’ll show you an artist in disingenuous acts and words.