Social and technological forces. Specifically the interplay between the regulatory and economic spheres leads people to take a survival interest in regulation.

Social and technological forces. Specifically the interplay between the regulatory and economic spheres leads people to take a survival interest in regulation. But voters are rationally ignorant because the bandwidth of the electoral box is less than one bit per year in most cases. So they're interested, but not informed. Furthermore the world is so complicated and technology is so powerful that people are more affected by simulated reality than real reality. Major events that affect people's lives are mediated by technology that can be used to convey falsity as easily as truth (perhaps easier).