Voters voted for big government. Big government is what makes crony capitalism work.
Voters hold the ultimate power over government - but most those voters like big government, or we wouldn’t have it.
Again, you are wrong historically. Hell, crony capitalism was in place from the time of Senator Lincoln, who had made his name doing eminent domain deals for barge companies and railroads. Better read that article.
There is a reason the Progressive Era immediately followed the Gilded Age. It was long after big government acquired its powers that voters began to wail for its protections. It was the astronomically wealthy that proposed the income tax. Yes, the people could have done something about it, but by then every institution of public information (aka big business) was against them.