The west models itself after the Roman Republic but tries to skip on the hard parts.

I don’t know about “the West” – literally most any western developed country besides the US understands what the “Bread” part of Bread & Circuses means. Labor laws, universal healthcare, paid vacation, paid parental leave, election laws designed to encourage voting and discourage election manipulation – all of these things are, in some form or another, part of nearly every western developed country besides the USA.