[AnimalMuppet]

I think that the citizens have kind of lost the whole idea of "representative".

Voters now want to send people to Congress who will carry out a specific agenda. But the idea of a representative is that you were sending someone with (more or less) your general views, and they would use their own judgment.

This whole "pre-negotiation and coalitions before questions are put to the voters" might be more the problem than the solution.

[mseebach]

Your second and third paragraphs seem to be at odds with each other? Negotiating (whether pre or post) and forming coalitions is exactly what you'd expect proper representatives to do.

[AnimalMuppet]

Representatives, yes. Political parties before elections, not so much (which is the point of the bit I was quoting in the third paragraph). Especially not so much if people expect the representatives to be bound by those negotiations for the duration of their terms, rather than actually using judgment as their term unfolds.