There's an interesting scene in The Dark Night where the Joker sets up a social experiment where one boat must blow up the other boat in order to live. The civilian boat decides to put it to a vote. But in-spite of a majority vote by the civilian boat to save themselves by blowing up the other boat first, no-one actually has the guts to follow through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr03gGto1Iw
I think this highlights a major flaw in democratic systems. The majority of citizen's seem comfortable voting for a government that puts asylum seekers in indefinite detention. But what if they actually had to do the dirty-work themselves? To explain to an innocent child why they are not welcome and must instead be locked behind bars until they are returned to a life of poverty. I don't think anyone (except maybe a few sociopaths) could do it.