The American system was designed from the outset, on every front, to indirect the preferences of the "people" through multiple layers of middlemen with firmly b

The American system was designed from the outset, on every front, to indirect the preferences of the "people" through multiple layers of middlemen with firmly bounded accountability to those they purport to represent. This is, in the popular consciousness, the salient difference between Athenian democracy and the Roman republic. It is no longer a popular design, and one that we've been slowly walking back over the history of the union, through general adoption of popular vote to choose electors, direct election of senators, &c.. Nevertheless, the design's legacy persists in all corners of the federal government, so the principle actually does have a lot of explanatory power when trying to make sense of it, even if for no other reason than trying to figure out which parts you want to demolish.