this whole "government of the people" concept only works if the citizens consist of rich land owners with time to kill on government. In today's society, the average slave working for industry is empowered to vote and has no idea what to do with that vote. My village is adding a referendum to the March 20th vote for the city's electricity. It affects my electric bill, so I should get involved. But any cost I incur making my voice heard is money I could save and just live with whatever they do. I need the money to pay for my son's educational tools and curriculum. The story is not much different if you look into all these middle class households that comprise our village. Everyone is already stretched, there's no strength to devote to politics. there are alternative parties at the Village level; my prior city was run by one of those, it didn't matter, nothing was different. I lived there 10 years, and my wife worked for the city (local library) so I do know how things were run. You get up to the County level of government and it is all too big, way beyond anyone's reach. The bigger it gets, the more out of touch it becomes. We have no voice and we know it.