one person can’t run a country. the vesting clause in the constitution is written in what has turned out to be a catastrophically stupid way. 1/

representatives jobs aren’t to know everything there is to be known. their job is to understand the values and interests of their constituents, manage expert technocrats to find feasible expressions of those values and interests, and work with colleagues to get those expressions passed. 2/

admittedly, this is nothing like what contemporary US Congresspeople actually do, since we’ve made fundraising and campaigning their core work, and Gingrich fired their experts. 3/

the US has institutionally deviated very far from anything that can be described in theory (in practice is now obvious) as a plausibly functional democracy. but that doesn’t mean plausibly functional democracies are impossible! /fin