They run on a statistically validated marketing platform designed to win a strategic number of votes in each region, resulting in their election. However, once in office, there is no apparatus that keeps them accountable to their promises. This a feature, not a bug, of representative democracy. Time and time again, it is very clear that politicians run on a platform for the masses, but enact policies for the elite. Noam Chomsky has written extensively on this issue.
There is only one universal currency: power. This not only applies to individuals within a country, but also international relations. Weaker people will always be subject to the tyranny of the powerful, much like weaker countries constantly are at the whim of superpowers.
The rational counter-strategy to prevent this abuse is to limit individual power. While modern democracies succeed very well in limiting individual political power, they fail spectacularly in limiting financial power. As a result, financial power runs the local, national and international political arenas at the expense of its citizens. This is a natural consequence of capitalism.
It is accepted as gospel that capitalism is the "least worst" economic system. But this is a very shallow observation. What makes capitalism unique is that it completely unleashes the natural human tendencies of status competition by allowing mass accumulations of wealth. The result is exactly what we have today: the quest for wealth at any expense, without any guiding principles.
Is it really a testament to our transcendence that we produce millions of tons of consumer waste, because we can afford to? The problems with capitalism and democracy can both be solved simultaneously by understanding their limitations. Democracy and capitalism both need guiding principles to temper their inherently destabilizing tendencies. Accumulation of wealth or power for their own sake becomes fatally toxic to any nation.
Which guiding principles can serve this purpose? Sadly, history shows that nationalism and war have been the most successful. These principles prey upon fear to generate a temporary sense of unity and drive. But what if there was another way to do the same thing, but with hope instead of fear?
Personally, I hope that the guiding principle of the 21st century will be the pursuit of knowledge in the form of scientific research. A society with research as its goal would have an eternal national challenge, which would inspire its citizens from birth to learn and contribute to society. This would also produce an extremely informed citizenry which would be very difficult to brainwash or intimidate.
Lastly, with automation destroying the notion of “jobs” by severely favoring capital over labor in factors of production, this new society will be poised to prosper by giving citizens an incentive to pursue education and training while living off a basic income.
...Or perhaps I should stop watching Star Trek.