You make a great point about lure of Machiavellian power and targeting the system itself, e.g., ED scams, that politicians being human like the rest of us are tempted to misue for their own ends. I think it was Jefferson that said "bind them down by the chains of the Constitution", otherwise these systems naturally become tools for corruption. I'm becoming more aware that it really is on us, the people, to rein in the elected. One time Rand Paul was asked about separation of powers and Republican form of government. He answered something like, "the founders understood, even the deists, the sin nature and lure for lack of restraint and not to concentrate power in one person or a particular group unrestrained or it would lead to tyranny." So they gave us a Republic, a rule of law, and Not Men. Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary". So, it's up to us, The People, to rein them in when they're unrestrained.