system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do we vote on politicians and not policies [UK]
gpt
Because most people don't have the time/knowledge and, originally, doing referenda was more a pain in the ass.

Now, thanks to tradition/already having an established system, and the age-old reason of "Leave it to the experts", it makes more sense to vote for experts that think like you and have the know-how.

I have a friend in California who *hates* all the referenda, and wishes that the state government would handle more things in-house, so there's also that.