&gt;If you believe the act of dropping a piece of paper into a box actually affects what a politician can do, I&#x27;ve got a bridge to sell you.<p>The power of democracy is that it becomes completely socially unacceptable to ignore what those pieces of paper say.<p>And indeed the people you&#x27;re complaining about don&#x27;t ignore them. They find ways to get what they want <i>despite</i> the system, but they never outright defy it. No one installs themself in office without winning an election (EDIT: In the US), and if anyone ever did there would be rioting in the streets.<p>&gt;&gt; I just object to libertarians pretending they can avoid it<p>&gt;In fact, I&#x27;ve avoided all non-governmental forms of coercion all my life!<p>I mean that you&#x27;re pretending your ideology can avoid all coercion, while ignoring the coercion involved in enforcing property rights.