Georgy: This is a very good question.

In their book, Ziblatt and & Levitsky also gave the reasons for the two parties to open up their primaries: the public was getting too cynical about the boys-in-smoke-filled-back-rooms calling most of the shots. These changes were made circa 1970 in order to delay the crumbling of American democracy. We could argue that the the changes were just a delay.

Ziblatt & Levitsky make many good points. But in the end, they have no solution--even though they could be alluding to the "good old days" of delegate representation.

I invite you to inspect Tiered Democratic Governance. Every citizen can still vote. But the votes will be cast for different reasons than we have today. Citizens with an obtuse outlook on society can't amass support to elect a populist leader. Rather the higher tiers will be composed of wise citizens.

https://medium.com/discourse/tiered-democratic-governance-3f36a8f45660

I have a feeling I have approached you before. If so, my apologies. I couldn't resist commenting on Z and L.