The problem is less the form of elections and representations, but how they come about. In representative democracy, you need to bribe just the representative.

The problem is less the form of elections and representations, but how they come about. In representative democracy, you need to bribe just the representative. In direct democracy, you need to bribe/trick some majority. If the US switched to direct democracy tomorrow, I'd bet the same issues would pop up, just in a different form.