I'm talking about TRUE democracy here which entails everybody in the community having a say in every major decision, that can only be done in a community of less than 5,000 people. Voting every 4 years for a party to handle all decisions (which could have an impact on their reelection if they decided on necessary but unpopular measures) isn't democracy, it's handing over responsibility for which there are no consequences. Many people who aspire to politics are borderline sociopaths, those who should be in power (responsible, intelligent, empathetic people) have no interest in the filthy business. Listen to your members of congress speaking, they certainly aren't intelligent but rely on their advisers who are but who apparently have no conscience, a bunch of sycophants. As Mark Twain once said, " Imagine you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of congress, but I repeat myself". People vote from a limited choice of power hungry candidates and I dare say that if a suitable well read, intelligent candidate was available he/she wouldn't be chosen, as the saying goes, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public".
Certainly, by good luck, this system has proven to be more beneficial to the people than under a dictatorship of one power hungry man but only because free speech has proven to be a deterrent.