[EGreg]

That's why representative democracy is a broken and inefficient system that can be easily rigged (gerrymandering, poor turnout, bought politicians, media ignoring a candidate, media covering a candidate nonstop, broken promises, pulling a fast one etc.)

With today's advances in statistics and technology, people could be polled for their opinions on issues by hundreds of independent and transparent public polling companies. Just like jury duty but easier and on your phone. You can't buy all the people all the time. It's too expensive. But you can perpetuate the system that engulfs their representatives all of the time.

http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=212