http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PublicChoice.html

Well, maybe this is not well known enough, because school civics lessons usually don't teach this. I'll refrain from speculating about what interest groups might be influencing the school curriculum.

As Winston Churchill said, "Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

Or as James Madison put it, "But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm

If it really becomes impossible for people to operate legitimate, opinion-promoting websites (as contrasted with copyright-infringing websites, which I don't operate), then the way out of the problem is the same as it has always been, people power.

http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html

"Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote. "

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-12/local/me-358_1_jail-t...