> democracy actually leverages that really well in practice Does it? Everything I know indicates that the #1 deciding factor in how much influence you can get

> democracy actually leverages that really well in practice Does it? Everything I know indicates that the #1 deciding factor in how much influence you can get (within a modern liberal democracy) is how much money you have to begin with. > people who notice get annoyed because they have a naive view that all the voters in a democratic polity are meant to have equal sway and impact in practice I don't think people have (nearly as much of) an issue with e.g. people who caucus getting more sway than your average voter. But even the most devoted party volunteer will struggle to out-influence even a relatively disinterested large donor.