One my students couldn't get today,

What is the greatest threat to an established Democracy?
(Such as ours.)

NO GOOGLE!
Discuss.

A lack of education. For a democracy to function properly, the voting population must know about the country's history, people, and political process.

A lack of education leads to the final answer,
That's my hint!

People who are willing to vote away the rights of others.

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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

--Murray Rothbard

They're lazy. They want to be taken care of, so they give more power to the government. That starts a snowball until the government has all the power and the people have none. It's happening now, and has been happening since our nation was formed.

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"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." ~Ronald Reagan

Ignorance? Apathy?

Education of the voters to the needs central to the country. The people with there vote are the stronger than the government. If they aren't educated they vote in ways that are against the real common good. I suppose you could bring it down to individualistic needs leading the way.

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Bill Ayers for Secretary of Education
The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it. Abbie Hoffman
Imagine no possesions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people Sharing all the world. John Lennon
I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one. And I believe it could be someday it's going to come. Cat Stevens
Member: Bottom feeders Local 101

A population without the ability to independently critically analyse the policies of the various parties?

I would say the complacency of taking the system for granted, as conceptualized as an outside entity.

For example: "The system will work out." said without consideration for evidence.

I would also include the lack of a revolutionary or rebellious spirit, as a safeguard against the tyrannical entropy inevitable to sedentary democratic systems.

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My enduring personal, original quote: Many mistake what should rightly be called "passivism" for pacifism. Pacifism and passivism are COMPLETELY different.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --President George W. Bush.
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Everything about the War on Terror(ism) is aggravating.

Partisan politics and uneducated voters that fall for them.

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"We The People" aren't the first words of the Constitution, and written so Huge and Fancy by mistake."

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Benjamin Franklin

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. Benjamin Franklin