Everyone is familiar with the idea that companies pay politicians to weaken regulations, but more people need to realize that they pay politicians to strengthen regulations as well. Expertise in regulatory compliance is a competitive advantage that all incumbents have. They can create barriers to entry by making regulatory compliance harder.<p>Companies bribe politicians who hate regulations to remove regulations they hate. Companies bribe politicians who like regulations to add regulations that they can comply with more easily than their competitors. Centralized democracy is fundamentally flawed because votes can be bought.