Jefferson thought as much, thinking the common public was too daft to effectively vote.

Here's the problem: We have no good way to decide who is savvy enough for civic engagement and who isn't, and because of that ambiguity (and maybe without it) such a test would absolutely get corrupted for political purposes.

Part of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is to develop an army of MAGA-minded clerical workers to replace all the bureaucrats that run the deep state since they're not willing to follow illegal orders. Every power-seeking authoritarian movement seeks to weed out all those who disagree with them.