It could be that HN commnter replying to submission about education in the United States indicating that he is "irked" by the term "democratisation" is not located within the United States but rather in a non-English speaking country not initiallu founded upon "democratic" principles (cf. United States) and with a dissimilar history of "democracy". As such, his interpetation of this term could have different meaning to him than the journalist working for The Atlantic who resides within the United States and is employed by one of its academic institutions

Indeed. Like ks2048 I find the use of "democratize" outisde of governance to be bizzare and even annoying.

I am British by birth, and IIRC Hacker News is pretty much the only place I see "democratize" used to mean "make more widely available".

*initially