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"people more readily obey a system which purports to heed their input". Sounds like democracy.

Democracy works by the very direct effect that almost always when anybody is powerful enough to make a coup and take the government, that somebody has been powerful enough to take the government by vote for a long time.

There are many indirect effects that may help, people feeling represented is one of them. But they are near to irrelevant when compared to that direct one.

Care to clarify your point?

In a country with millions of voters, a single vote isn't likely to be what decides who gets elected. In the limit of infinite voters, casting a vote is a lot like pressing a placebo button. It's not directly useful for the voter, but it makes the voter more likely to accept the outcome.

>In a country with millions of voters, a single vote isn't likely to be what decides who gets elected.

Forget worrying about single votes: even having most of the votes isn't necessarily enough to influence things! (Referring to the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections, and to the concept of gerrymandering.)

I wonder, has any research been done on the size of a democracy and how represented the average individual feels?

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