The upside of claiming nothing is set until the 3rd time, is that it takes 40-80 years for each try, and that gives plenty of time to be right.
Democracy is fragile, chaotic and dirty. The French started democracy with beheading the people that the French would have elected (Louis XVI wasn’t killed until 1793, because he tried to organize a referendum for him, which he was sure to win, and the parliament people couldn’t let that happen). Then the French elected Napoleon, which is the opposite of democracy too in its processes. Then Napoleon was demoted and a few years went by and he came back in Juans Les Pins, and conquered Paris with huge crowds growing at each village.
The whole story of democracy in each country is often a farce ending with a happy power balance, while we often turn a blind eye to blatant violations of democracy when it’s in our favour.
So there’s no first or second attempt at democracy. There are errands that countries do, and sometimes they become democratic despite having a kind at the head, sometimes they look democratic and aren’t, and sometimes the negative forces win. Lest we live in the good days.