They must take pains not to offend their backers whose power over them increases as citizens withdraw from the democratic process. Voters who are turned off unhappily don't turn out. This increases the alienation between politicians and voters, causing an erosion in democracy. The politicians painstakingly study the election returns and use them as their guide to policy making. That is why your uncast vote causes repercussions throughout the democratic system.
Most voters already feel powerless to stop official misconduct and mismanagement.
More and more is left to the authorities, yet no one trusts them to perform. They lose interest in elections and stop exercising their franchise altogether. This leaves a flawed system that produces ugly results. There may be no set price for an elected official's benevolence-no direct relation between influence expended and cash extracted, but the pressure groups, nevertheless, expect a return on their investment. The elected officials who can no longer depend on the democratic majority to support them now make deals with the greedy minorities.