[kstenerud]

It's not really a plan per se; it's just a natural consequence (or emergent phenomena, if you will) of a political system where one must already be rich and connected in order to become a senator and thus affect the laws of the land. Not all countries have this problem.

[anigbrowl]

My post was more bleak sarcasm than analysis, but I think it's about 50-50. Perverse incentives are part of the issue, but there are networks that diligently and patiently work to maximize their number and perversity, eg applying the lessons of selectorate theory in a maximally adversarial rather than diagnostic way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selectorate_theory