The new pressure to legislate at the speed of light can have drawbacks for lawmakers by degrading Congress' ability to deliberate on issues, a function seen as key to reaching reasoned decisions. The change was evident in the handling of the Starr report. The function of Congress of deliberating, of bringing in facts and knowledge, will be even faster in the future. I think it is bad. But the future of democracy does not necessarily have to be dark.
Advocates hold out hope for a renewal.
It is a widely held view of those outside partisan circles that the first step needs to be some reform of campaign finance laws to lessen the influence of money in politics, either through tough new restrictions or a totally publicly funded system. Without campaign finance reform at the federal level, the problem will only grow worse. Some also want to change the very structure of Congress. In the realm of more radical ideas, proponents of pure democracy argue that technological advances make it possible for citizens to be their own representatives in Washington. In the new electronic village, everyone could cast their votes on the issues of the day or, at the least, representatives could simply sample the opinion of their constituents each day before voting.