A functioning democratic republic is not, in fact, predicated on voting every couple years and shutting up in between elections. Additionally, checks and balan

A functioning democratic republic is not, in fact, predicated on voting every couple years and shutting up in between elections. Additionally, checks and balances abdicating their duties to uphold laws does not mean that no laws are being broken and all is well: it's a symptom of the system as a whole grinding itself apart under the internal contradictions.