> its annoying that parties’ primary goal is to gain influence Inevitable consequence of a representive democracy. Parties are chosen based on electability, wh

> its annoying that parties’ primary goal is to gain influence Inevitable consequence of a representive democracy. Parties are chosen based on electability, which is merely a proxy for good policy. This means parties that don't optimise for electability at the cost of good policy will eventually be outcompeted by those that do. (It's for this reason Graeber sometimes jokingly (?) called representative democracy "elective aristocracy".)