A friend of mine once told me "if you do not do politics, they will do politics to you". Politics are mostly distasteful - arguments, propaganda, politicians creating problems for their own gain and trying to radicalise people to their side. There is probably nothing clean anywhere in the political arena.
However, as disgusting as they are, the option of not getting involved does not really work. You need to defend your interests and make sure that the politicians of your country know that you are watching and that you will hold the to account.
it also helps to know how to defend/ argue/get heard.
politicians know that there is a set avenue people are suppose to follow to get things heard and mentioned in the capital building/parliament/political centre.
however media will tell people not how to do it right. but instead tell people to just chant and scream in a empty street(protest) and hope to get heard
lobby groups know better. you never see a formal lobby group do 'peaceful protest' chanting on a street.
..
so here are some lessons.
1. petition your representatives.
dont chant on a street. instead set up a petition.
get enough local signatures from citizens, enough to actually make the representative feel unease if they stay quiet/ignore the issue being petitioned.. and post the petitions to the representative.
(cant ignore it that way)
force your local representative to read and respond. hold them to their response. if the response is negative then petition them again showing your hand that you have X people that wont vote for them if they dont change their way.
repeat for each regions representative until you have enough representatives falling into line.
2. then petition the capital/parliament to be heard. and to get representatives to draw up a new law or policy that caters to the peoples needs. heck even send them a draft law/policy for them to copy and paste.
3. when they submit a potential law/policy. if they have changed it from the ones the citizens want to see. petition them again to alter it.
(thats the way to do it without bribing representatives)