All things considered in the above post, my personal opinion is that we need to be a bit careful with regard to the idea that elected officials are there simply to represent the will of the people. It could be argued that the legislative branch is there to simply represent the will of the people and draft bills accordingly, but that executive branch is their to consider the will of the people, but govern according to what is deemed to be in the best interests of the people. Even though such actions might not always be popular.
That's a cop out. Calling it "reality" would seem to provide an excuse for the dishonesty. There is no excuse for our elected officials to employ dishonest tactics in order to win votes. The average voter does not have the necessary contact with their representative(s) to get them to push a particular agenda. All the average voter can rely on is what the politician says they are going to do, hence the problem. Politicians like Romney believe in pandering to voters and that, in effect, is false advertising. It is no small wonder less than half the country votes....no one likes being lied to. Lobbyists have the access and the dollars to get politicians to forget what they promised their constituency....they are the ones who want their particular agenda pushed...and they are very very effective at getting their way.
I don't vote. I'm never voting again in my life. I say this very proudly. Your vote doesn't matter. I won't play the game anymore.
It's just a hold over from a couple hundred years ago. It IS time for a new more accurate name though.