That something is ancient and traditional doesn't mean it's good.

Rotten boroughs also existed for hundreds of years. Parliament got rid of them in 1832, and good fucking riddance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs

> For centuries, parliamentary representation and the right to vote in elections to the House of Commons remained largely unchanged from medieval times, even as population and economic activity shifted, contributing to an unequal distribution of seats by the early 19th century. In some constituencies the electorate was so small that seats could be controlled through patronage, bribery, or coercion, and many seats were treated almost as "property" under longstanding family influence. Early 19th-century reformers used the term rotten borough for depopulated constituencies that retained representation, and pocket borough for constituencies effectively "in the pocket" of a patron who could dominate the outcome.