This is a Republic and not a direct democracy for reasons that should be all to clear. The weakest part of the American system is in the legislatures. Particularly this holds at the State and local level. There are real problems in the Executive branch and Lord knows we have shed many electrons talking about the problems of the Judiciary. Congress richly deserves its current approval rating of less than 10%. Still the real dysfunction on a system level is in the state legislatures. New York and Illinois are particularly bad but most of them are dreadful. The answer is not the lazy move of simply concentrating more power at the Federal level by transferring functions. What is needed is a clearer separation between the two levels. The reasons for the deterioration of State government have increased as the Federal government has expanded. Now the states serve largely as transfer agents begging for money from Washington. They skim of a percentage and pass the rest on through programs such as Medicare. The best thing to do is repeal the 17th Amendment and then pass another Amendment stating that no State may receive, spend or transfer funds from the Federal government except for certain specific enumerated purposes, such as training the Militia.