This piece from veteran Michigan Radio producer Tamar Charney explores a variety of spontaneous everyday moments, decision-making moments when we Americans unconsciously lean on our collective affection for basic democratic principles. Charney spends some time with a typical American family as they use 'majority rule' to make domestic decisions, and then the piece moves to an interesting interview with a grocery worker who expresses doubts about whether or not our votes really count.

The idea that we simultaneously trust the principles of democracy and distrust its application, that's the crux of this piece. Charney puts it succinctly when she says, "We vote characters off islands and pick the next American Idol using democratic principles, but we don't think it works for politics."

This is a thoughtful and nicely produced segment, especially for election season.