Actually, while I had exactly the same reaction as you initially I realized, once I had calmed down a bit, that assertion being made is about perception not reality.
It wouldn't surprise me that if you did a global poll that the democracy in the US would be subjectively be regarded as "best" - for a lot of reasons:
- The size of the US (probably the single biggest factor)
- The fact that a lot of people from the US genuinely believe that their system of government is the best (a view they are perfectly entitled to) and are rather evangelical about this belief
- The strength of US consumer brands that, at least historically, were associated with "freedom". A lot of the US worldview often seems to have remained frozen in a rather Cold War perspective (e.g. referring to the US President as "leader of the free world" - which always makes me grind my teeth when I see it).
The US have been and are still recognized for their economical strength.
The US have been and are still recognized for their military strength.
The US were once recognized for their democracy but this was some time ago. Today the politics - domestic and foreign - of the US is perceived as corrupt and controlled by the economy. Maybe even as stuck in the cold war.
I think this is a fairly typical perception of the US in western Europe, I am quite sure it is here in Germany. Whether this perception is true or false is a different matter. And if you are not living in a well developed country, if you are living in a non-democratic country, you may of course still perceive the US democracy as desirable.
Germany is often looking at Scandinavia because we think they are doing a couple of things in a better way than we do. You would probably have a hard time or have to look quite some time back to find examples were someone suggested we should do it the American way. Even if you forget about politics and look at the economy. Yes, the economy is recognized as really strong, but it is not perceived as superior.
I probably should have added that I don't think US democracy is held in high regard here in Europe - I am in the UK and I suspect most people here feel that the Scandinavian countries, Germany and Switzerland probably have better functioning democracies than we do. When people talk about our political system in the UK becoming more like the US model it isn't regarded as a good thing!
It wouldn't surprise me that if you did a global poll that the democracy in the US would be subjectively be regarded as "best" - for a lot of reasons:
- The size of the US (probably the single biggest factor)
- The fact that a lot of people from the US genuinely believe that their system of government is the best (a view they are perfectly entitled to) and are rather evangelical about this belief
- The strength of US consumer brands that, at least historically, were associated with "freedom". A lot of the US worldview often seems to have remained frozen in a rather Cold War perspective (e.g. referring to the US President as "leader of the free world" - which always makes me grind my teeth when I see it).