WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE: Politicians

Vote for me, I'm definitely not ruining everything!

— President G.N. Eric, Last President of the US.

Once the ruling class of nation-states, Politicians are now almost extinct, their purpose fulfilled, and their kind no longer needed by their corporate overlords. Using a myriad of psychological tricks with more resemblance to gas-lighting than anything else, Politicians somehow convinced everyone that they weren't just necessary, but vital and treasured part of the nation they were robbing blind. Corporations still study the techniques used by certain Politicians to get entire groups of people to blindly follow them right to the gates of hell while simultaneously screwing them over at every turn and opportunity.

Goodnight, Democracy

It had a good run, but you can't trust just anyone to know what's best. That's why we have focus groups now.

— Albert Weiss, Corporate Historian: 'The Decline of Democracy, the Rise of Corporate-Rule'

Although Corporations and Politicians had a long and mutually profitable arrangement for decades, where corporations set policy and Politicians sold their souls for campaign financial aid, it couldn't last forever. In the end, the apathy that politicians counted on to keep filling their pockets and running their little shell game came back to bite them.

by me.me

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When the nation-states fell, an event probably incited directly by Politicians, and the world's population fled to the Megacity, Politicians thought they were set. After all, they'd done the corporation's bidding for decades already, no matter what that meant for the suckers voting for them.
There was some early noise from these refugees to create some sort of civil governance, going back to the days of old with voting and democracy, and that's when the hammer fell.
'Politician' as a profession, already about as popular as the scum you wipe off your boot after a trip through the Megacorpolis Sewer System, was promptly outlawed.

Lobbyists in particular thought they'd be safe, but that turned out to be a pretty fatal underestimation of the Corporations. The lucky ones were jailed or banished off to the Ashlands, while the unlucky ones were caught by their previous constituents or worse.

Voting

An archaic system of deciding governance, 'voting' has been largely phased out of Megacorpolis life when it comes to how the city is run. Despite its importance, the entire was met with increasing apathy and even resentment in the waning years of the 21st century. With The Computer running everything in the Megacity now, things are much more straight-forward.
There's no need to vote, because the Computer is always there. The Computer has it all figured out, and any complaints can be directed to the corporate compliance force, thank you.

by The Canberra Times

Voting was mostly symbolic for several decades anyway, hollowed out by a population that let their politicians get away with murder (sometimes literally) and generally not taking the whole thing very seriously.
Corporate money further diluted the whole system - once it all started pushing in the same direction, that was a wrap.

Most politcians are gone now, lost beneath the crushing boots of time's inevitable march forward. A few old bastard still linger, and the ones left really are the worst of the bunch. There's standing bounties on every one of them, and even the Contrarians are willing to agree with this one.

by City of Heath, TX