A fact the Founders knew all too well, yet a trap they fell into anyway.
(sigh)
Thus died the Republic.
I do not believe the founders fell into the trap; Franklin warned the citizens against their own shortfalls and Jefferson knew the need for constant revolutions.
The founder’s design lacked two important elements: term limits and English as our official language, which Noah Webster trumpeted from the Constitution’s ratification.
The design was good. Our nation’s drift from virtue has been the killer.