In the political arena (Graph 4), the prevailing trend of a mixed-economy society is toward an ever more authoritarian government. As already observed in Graph 1 (p. 5.4:52), regulation, because of its inherent complexity, cannot be closely monitored by the legislature, whose members are politically accountable to the people. Instead, decision-making must be handled to a large degree by bureaucratic specialists. Moreover, the natural diversity of individual ends presents enormous obstacles to legislative attempts at regulation and economic direction. As appeals are made for more economic planning by a democratic government, the goals of that planning may at first be couched in terms that conceal that diversity. The differences of opinion become apparent, however, as soon as legislatures try to reach agreement on the specifics of planning. Since numerous alternative plans are usually available, it will typically prove impossible to achieve a majority consensus for any one alternative. The disagreements generate a type of impasse that in U. S. politics of the last decade has been labeled "gridlock" or blamed on "partisanship." But such gridlock and the disillusionment with popular government that it engenders are not mere happenstances, but predictable consequences of the notion of a democratically planned economy. Scroll down to view these causal influences on the graph.