The problem is not democracy, it is electoralism. Deciding who should rule by voting simply is not an effective means for the public to wield power. There's a p

The problem is not democracy, it is electoralism. Deciding who should rule by voting simply is not an effective means for the public to wield power. There's a profound lack of granularity, an incentive towards short-termism, a bias that favors charismatic demagogues, and a tendency for the formation of political cliques. Referenda aren't much better, as they give disproportionate power to media institutions. The average person simple does not have much time, energy, or incentive to devote to developing a deep understanding of political issues. Rather, a sortition-based system centered around deliberative citizens' assemblies is more optimal (at least for societies with realtivelt little linguistic diversity). By convening a representative random sample of the population and giving them the opportunity to research and deliberate, you create an avatar of the public that can most effectively rule on the public's behalf. Of course, citizens' assemblies are too unwieldy (and expensive) to be used for all aspects of legislation. But they can also be used to appoint administrators, veto legislation, propose referenda, etc.