The Role of Hobbits and Hooligans in Democracy

Many theories of democracy assume that people will behave the way Vulcans do, but they don't. They behave as hobbits and hooligans. And so a good philosophical theory of democracy has to deal with what human beings are actually like rather than what we wish they were like. The typical non-voter is a hobbit, doesn't care much,. And the typical voter is a hooligan, cares a lot, knows a little bit more, but is super biased.