Earlier quoted context omitted.
One thing that is common about middle democracies is that prioritize a bureaucratic elite structure over an entrepreneurship culture, while both the US and China embrace entreprenuership wholeheartedly. If they changed that they'd perhaps become world powers themselves.
"If they changed that they'd perhaps become world powers themselves." If they were to change some within the citizenry would stand to gain at the expense of others. Inequality would increase. Seems—for now—middle democracies aren't prepared to pay the high price of social upheaval such a policy would create.
When people go on about a Golden Age, I'm the awkward one who asks "Golden for who exactly?"