Who donates most to their election campaigns , what policies will get them more votes pretty much drives every decision.

Voters do not necessarily vote for what is actually beneficial to them. They vote for what they think is beneficial.A fact exploited by republicans so well to reduce taxes on the rich and still get popular support since atleast Regan.

There is also the trianny of the majority in any democrarcy while a lot worse in direct it also exists in representative versions.

California with all ballot propositions has more direct flavour than other states. Interests of the minority are hard to proctect.

Ultimately it boils down to education and media. Democrarcy depends on these two pillars heavily.

While the role of media is discussed often, the role of education is not talked about enough. More educated the average voter is , it is harder to make them vote against their interest.

There was a reason only landed gentry voted in Rome, while such restrictions is not the right solution, the concerns on the ability to vote after being well informed is still valid

You can easily draw a strong correlation between states( and countries) which are not people friendly (low tax/ lax labour , environment regulations) to their education level.