I think that the questions are biased. Questions like “should politicians listen to the people?” are badly phrased. Of course they should listen, but they need to be ready to ignore them if they are odious shitbags.
Politicians need to tread a fine line. People can easily turn into a rabble; then they need to be defused and ignored. However, sometimes the people are right and the politicians/policies are wrong. Politicians ideally need to be highly reflective, always on the lookout for the times they may be getting it wrong.
I long for the time to come where politicians (and the media) realise that strength comes in knowing when you have got it wrong, owning it and fixing it. We seem to be a long way away from that.