Here's a radical thought about the ideal democracy:
I think that instead of political parties we should have "functional" parties organized in the same way that ministries are: Education, Environment, Finance, Health, Industry, Labor, Transportation etc.
This way you choose a representative for each of these areas, whose ideas and views you support and agree upon fully. It's illogical to expect one political party/person to actually represent your views on all these different topics. I think this would dramatically change the political landscape for the better. It would get people to participate more because for the first time after "Direct Democracy" you would feel that your voice is heard. We can make our representatives accountable and responsible for the specific task we hired them to do.
The most radical thing though, is that the president/prime minister would stop being some sort of omnipotent person. Instead this person should be an administrator in charge of making all these different groups work together. Not a decision maker but an excellent resource/conflict manager, whose task is to get things done.
Too radical? 🙂