Yeah it's definitely a super squishy abstract concept. I think a lot of the problem comes from the fact that in order for institutions to work, you have to let them do their thing which can take a long time. Personally, I think one of the biggest issues with democracy building is that we don't let time pass and for institutions to take on a character of their own. I think the US model worked for the US because the world basically left us the fuck alone for a century or two and we figured out how to make democratic institutions work for us. But in somewhere like post-Arab Spring Egypt, people want things to happen immediately and it just doesn't work that way.

In high school, I was on a mock congressional hearings team (lmfao i know) which helped give a really in depth look into how you research and prep for a hearing and involved a lot of constitutional study so we weren't just talking out our asses about what the govt can do. This obviously isn't the best form of civic engagement for everyone, but I think national service opportunities is an awesome way of making civic action widely accessible.