Votes, money and corporate takeovers

A couple of months ago I read "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry -a novel of the not-too-distant future where corporations rule the world, government is weak and people take surnames from their employer [John Nike, Helen MacDonalds and ... well, Jennifer Government -the eponymous hero works for the government as a police officer]. It seems both unlikely yet a possible trajectory and when I read the article here, well, I just thought that this would be how it begins.

It also brings about the issue of living in a world dominated by an economic superpower: we don't even have the vote in the first place! It can be frustrating to see a government make changes or decide business as usual which affect all of our lives and those of our children [trade rules, environment, military decisions etc etc] and yet we have no direct appeal or recourse to that government ...