I would agree with this. I've often held the view that it hasn't been Democracy that has made our country great, but it has been the legal structure that has limited the concentration of power to any group or individual.

There have been a great many Democracies that have failed (although percentage-wise, I would guess they are on the whole more successful than other governing structures throughout history).

I agree that today the legal system today doesn't seem to apply fairly. I don't know history well enough to know if this was the case in the past.