The work required from the people is voting. The work required from the officials voted in is to make improvements in their respective fields. The average person isn't in charge of drawing up and implementing the required reforms and changes in the government, they can (and should) voice their concerns when said changes aren't implemented by the elected officials.

That is specifically what I mean. That will do more damage than good. Sure, conditions would improve but the resources spent there would be taken directly out of the part of the economy that is the one responsible for improving conditions.

Politics cant make things better, it can only forcefully allocate resources and this always has a net negative effect for the system as a whole. You can make the conditions for the soldiers better, but know that someone else will be suffering in their stead and more.

Socialists are stupid because only see the positive effects of their policies.