Re:Not the point (Score 1)

Rather, we have them simply because they're a fairly orderly system for choosing people for public office.

Not sure that's the case: choosing people for public office by selecting randomly from the population would also be a fairly orderly system, but probably wouldn't work too well in practice.

Democracy is about keeping the power of the government in check by making the government dependant on the electorate -- if the electorate are displeased with the administration they can "overthrow" it in the next election. Hence measuring the will of the voters accurately is important!