Comment by cheriot

The whole point of checks and balances is to deal with the cold reality that politicians can't be trusted. But they can still be useful! As long as the system of elections work, they need to find a set of policy priorities that builds a winning coalition.

That leads me to the conclusion that the best way to influence politics is not through the politician themselves, but through advocacy groups that can shift the political incentives.

Even the politicians celebrated by history made awful compromises to maintain a winning coalition. LBJ's relationship with MLK for example.