The solution is to keep the republic's government small enough that those who seek power are drawn to business, to the local PTA, and to other narrower playgrounds than the entire government. The problem is that the lazy and the greedy cannot resist voting themselves bread and circuses paid for with other people's money. These parasite wannabes do not understand that they are the ones paying the price for what the demagogues offer as "free stuff". The result of human nature's dark side? A behemoth FedGov that serves the interests of those who seek power and oppresses those who thought they would benefit from the promised benign tyranny.
Tax reform now!