n0 > But it’s not at all democratic.
Let me try to clarify – it is not a direct democracy, Athens style, where every balabos votes for the gadol hador or moschiach. It is indirect multi-level democracy – balabos hires the local Rav and decides what questions to ask, local rav decides which questions to forward further and to whom, and so on. Your anonymous posek (are you writing about yourself, maybe?) fits here too.
Specifically, if no balabos ever asks a shaila about honest wages or para aduma, then these questions will not propagate into responsa at some higher level.