I heard once that one used to have to own land in order to vote. If true, it may not be a bad idea except that I'm in the military and don't own land. But, I bet everybody would invest in this land instead of mooching off of it if every voter had a personal stake in it.
That was the original intent. Universal suffrage was not a new thing when it was implemented in the U.S. It was known as 'democracy' in ancient times (Greece and Rome) and was simply mob rule. (e.g., 'Bread and Circuses' in ancient Rome.) It has taken a couple of hundred years to subvert the Constitution to the point that we now have 'mob rule' in the U.S., but the consequences are easy to recognize.
Basically the republic survives until the overwhelming mass of 'citizens' begins to vote themselves money out of the treasury in the belief that it is 'free'.