“Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause, the cause of democracy,” said Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. moments after being sworn in as the 46^th president of the United States.

On this day, Americans are reminded that we are different. On any other day, we can go a little overboard in rhapsodizing our singularity. America did not invent democracy, after all. We are far from the world’s sole repository of free speech, peaceful assembly, and fair trials. With apologies to the country music duo Brooks & Dunn, whose song “Only in America” is a staple on the campaign trail, in many other nations “everybody gets to dance” and “dream as big as we want to.” For