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We now experience presidential elections as entertainment, like mud-wrestling or reality TV. On this level, Donald Trump has broken box-office records.

We’ve never had a candidate who is so skilled at playing the media, at dangling before them the raw meat of slander and innuendo, of threats and outrage, of vanity and self-pity. Network commentators have tied themselves in knots trying to pin down Trump’s policies, expose his fabrications, and explain his amazing support. But they keep his campaign alive, because they can’t resist his provocations.

Trump has exposed the commentators as entertainers first and journalists second. By feeding our addiction to spectacle, he has grabbed thousands of hours of free air time, and made this election a referendum on himself.

Viewed strictly as entertainment, it’s been quite a show. Surely, no one so comically thin-skinned and self-centered has ever come so close to the presidency.

Trump has captured and split the Republican Party, after publicly humiliating its other presidential hopefuls and congressional leaders. He’s trashed not only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but also Latinos, African-Americans, Muslims, women, the military — and, in these closing weeks, the system of representative government itself.

Of course, it hasn’t all gone Trump’s way. TRUMP: The Musical is ending like Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with the defiant hero cornered by a swelling chorus of angry women. And surely Trump didn’t plan the richest irony of all, that videos of his own creepy behavior would finally succeed in rallying millions of women to Hillary Clinton’s side.

Only cynics, however, can enjoy this show. Both campaigns insist that “the stakes have never been higher.” They are right, but for the wrong reasons. What is at stake is not his future or hers, but the future of democratic government. The revelation this year is that a large minority of Americans now support the election of a wannabe tyrant.

Tyrant is an old Greek word, no longer much in use. The Greeks understood tyranny as a logical result of the decay of democracy. When people get tired of participating in government, when government loses wars, fails to solve problems, and serves only insiders, then people look for a savior, a strong man to sweep the slate clean.

This opens the door to a demagogue, someone who promises to punish corruption, restore law and order and bring back the good old days — in exchange for unlimited power.

Tyrants are noted for narcissism, megalomania and paranoia, because they make public business personal. Their cry is always: “I’m the only one who can fix this.” Once in power, they typically surround themselves with family, suspend elections, jail critics, persecute opponents and manufacture plots and threats to distract the masses.

Tyranny proclaims itself the cure for the ills of democracy, but the cure is worse than the disease. The history of tyrannies is long and terrible. No government in history was ever more carefully designed to frustrate tyranny than that of the United States. Apparently, a large minority of Americans have forgotten, or never learned, this history.

Many of Trump’s followers simply no longer care about good manners, respect for opponents, party loyalty, due process of law or America’s image abroad. Theirs is a politics of despair.

What’s different this year is that many of Trump’s followers simply no longer care about good manners, or respect for opponents, or party loyalty, or due process of law or America’s image abroad. Theirs is a politics of despair.

They no longer believe it’s our government. They hate Washington. They’re bored with democracy. They believe our officials are traitors, the system is rigged, and only a wrecking ball offers any hope. Whether they realize it or not, they are clamoring for a dictator.

Trump plays on this despair like a keyboard. He echoes their resentment, confirms their alienation, amplifies their anger, exaggerates their suspicions and promises a terrible revenge. Responsible politicians consider it part of their job to bridge differences, heal rifts and keep people from killing each other. Like an adolescent arsonist, Trump is setting fires just to watch them burn.

Trump’s message is more a call to revolt than an agenda for reform. His most popular lines — Build the wall! Take our country back! Lock her up! — have a racist or sexist subtext. His rallies erupt in wild cheers when he claims that Clinton is plotting the destruction of our country, when he hints at her assassination, or when he promises to prosecute her after he wins. What country is this?

When asked about the threats to Clinton, Trump’s campaign manager said, by way of excuse, that “he channels the public will.” Clearly she believes he does. But that would mean his supporters are a “public” bent on mayhem and destruction, also known as a mob.

At the most basic level, democracy means counting heads instead of breaking them. Our disagreements can stop short of violence, as long as we agree on rules for disagreeing. We argue; we call for a vote; the loser accepts the decision; the winner welcomes the loser back to the table. It’s called majority rule. Once we abandon these rules, politics becomes personal, opponents become enemies, disagreement becomes treason, and we enter a state of potential or actual civil war.

Our representative democracy is only as strong as our belief in its fairness and our determination to make it work. Trump’s brief political career has been an effort to de-legitimize the very electoral system that is giving him all this attention. He’s having a wonderful time, and he’s drawn attention to a few important issues. But the way he has done it makes it that much harder for our government to build consensus and solve public problems.

For a man of his age, means and experience, Trump’s ignorance of our political system, our history and our role in the world is breathtaking. His attitude remains very much that of a private citizen, who simply has no idea how difficult it is to protect and govern such a large and diverse country.

Despite his bluster, Trump still assumes that “the Washington establishment” is too powerful to destroy. If he knew how fragile it really is, he would have to consider the consequences of his actions.

The harder truth is that Trump isn’t the real problem. The billionaire bully makes a wonderful scapegoat. But he did not create this revolt, any more than he built the Republican Party. As with his buildings, he simply slapped on his “brand” and took the credit.

Until last year, Trump was not a politician, not really a Republican and certainly not a conservative. If he loses, his millions of supporters will remain, and will be even more convinced than before that “the system is rigged.”

Pollsters predict Clinton will win, but even if she does, she and her supporters would be wise to ask: What if her opponent had been less self-destructive? What if the rebellion had found a respectable messenger? What have Clinton and the Democrats said or done to appeal to these angry fellow-citizens? As president, how will she win their acquiescence, if not their trust?

These questions will not go away.