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thomblake comments on Just a reminder: Scientists are, technically, people. - Less Wrong
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The US founders intended several different, opposing things. Some were much more elitist than others.
That's an open question. Some prefer representative democracy because it lets ordinary people spend time on things other than politics - in which case one might still prefer to elect people who would most likely have made the same decision as you would, and oust them when they do something you wouldn't have done.
Representative democracy doesn't necessarily diverge from the general populace, but it can.
A strong case can be made that this feature is a large part of why it was chosen by the Founders in the first place. Even if it wasn't, it clearly permits forms of elitism that other systems would rule out immediately. This fact is significant even if it wasn't intended.