> Populace keep voting for the same set of kleptocrats, so they get what they vote for.

Probably not an original idea on my part... but if the # kleptocrats (elected officials) is approximately constant, and the # of decisions made per kleptocrat goes up* (I can't actually say if this is true or not), as an individual the ability to direct change goes down it seems.

*or the number # of changes the aggregate lawmakers agree on goes down (i.e. more things left unaddressed)