General Discussion

I think that the sine qua non of a well-functioning democracy is an educated and engaged electorate. Without this I think that any other measures are only half measures that treat symptoms, but not the disease. I think that fashioned and apathy are the Achilles' heels of democracy. In the US it is fashionable to be ignorant of politics and disengaged from the political process. It isn't cynicism. One can be completely convinced that the majority of politicians are motivated by their own interests and the interests of their donors and still believe that that is exactly the reason that we must work even harder to hold the politicians to account in working for the public interest.
In the US a negative and unproductive cynicism holds sway. This cynicism has a lazy form which dictates that because either "both sides are the same" or "nothing that one person does has any effect" the individual is justified in disengaging from the political process. This lazy form is the only form available to the vast majority of the population. And there is an active form of this cynicism practiced by our oiligarchs in which politicians and judges are bought like prize hogs at the state fair.
I think that only the education and subsequent engagement of the electorate will be effective in remedying what is wrong with our democracy. I think that everything else is taking pain medicine for cancer. Important steps, but without treating the disease itself, ineffective.