User blog comment:Bondpedia/Important Bureacrat News/@comment-28584497-20131203170925/@comment-28584497-20131203174656

Considering the Athenian "democracy" excluded foreigners and women, not sure we should be using them as a precedent. They were also ruled largely by popular elite -- it was basically a requirement that they be popular philosophers or military leaders. And ultimately it was a part of their undoing at the hands of Sparta. Don't get too romantic in your view.

Modern democracy is not rule by an elite -- while it's true that in modern times politicians have invented means to exclude commoners (primarily the fact that they're a bunch of goddamned rich people) you can still throw your lot in at any point. You have the right to vote and your politicians are supposed to represent your will. That's why they're representatives. The political machining of the modern era is the result of social/economic Darwinism in the late 19th century that put these rich bastards in power to start with.