Working the Political System

"In areas ranging from local zoning laws to intellectual property protection, from financial regulation to energy subsidies, public policy now bestows great fortunes on those whose primary skill is working the political system rather than producing great products and services."

Lawrence Summers, Financial Times, 8/06/14

Interactive Democracy may help with this problem, too, by making political access easy, ensuring that everyone can vote freely on every issue and by enhancing transparency. It won't eliminate the advantages of the rich, which Mr Summers writes about in his article, but it is a large step towards political equality.

Smart Swarm

In his book Smart Swarm, Peter Miller writes "Seek a diversity of knowledge. Encourage friendly competition of ideas. Use an effective mechanism to narrow your choices. These are the lessons of the swarm's success. They also happen to be the same rules that enable certain groups of people to make smart decisions together..."
The question is, Does our political system do this effectively?
Interactive Democracy fits the bill!