> whole point of representative democracy was supposed to be that you elect someone to represent your interests, so you don't need to participate in the day to day mundanity of managing the bureaucracy

According to whom? Nothing in the Federalist Papers or our country’s founding envisions fire-and-forget politics.

> sure wish our world would try more experimentation in governance

The correct place for this experimentation is small governments. And to my knowledge, this experimentation does happen. It just doesn’t necessarily have the effects its framers imagined. RCV didn’t break the two-party system, for example. And public-sector unions have turned into pests.