But Thorne and ID, isn't this just the sign of modernity. This is what Internet has done. We, (consumers) have much higher demands on information today and don't want large amounts of information to sift through, (like our recent ancestors wanted). We want it as condensed and relevant as possible.

All you two are saying is that politics in a democracy is in crisis, because we don't vote for ideologies any more or political images. We vote for concrete acts. Or at least think we do. With the risk of stating the obvious. After a politician is elected they can only promise to give it a try. They cannot promise anything at all. So people get bored with politics. It's been reduced to the art of avoiding saying anything while still seeming likeable. And now we have reality TV. Which is the exact same spectacle. So of course nobody cares about politics any more.

I do think this is a good development. The old post industrial age nobility can't get away with only pretty speeches. "Ich bin ein berliner". Even though people are voting less, we're seeing more democracy. Step one in a democratic process is the public informing themselves. Thanks to the Internet this is happening more than ever before.

Just because people aren't listening as much to people in grey suits looking as serious as possible, doesn't mean the guy in the suit has anything to say. That is just falling for the image.

I'd say this is a new golden age for democracy. The old images and ideologies are dying and we're in the middle of a revolution where we're relearning how to learn about our world and who to listen to. Democracy is a bottom up process. I'm sure that when people our age, (I'm 33) are dead politicians will have radically different messages and will be voted in on completely different conditions. People in my generation are still letting politicians get away with doing virtually nothing at all, and are still talking about bullshit things like who's image is the best. I'm sure this will change, and will as long as politicians want to get elected in the future, and voters care about money. Change is just slow.