YYA> Maybe because Kashrus is something Hashem told us to do, and democracy (in the Western sense) is not.
and then argues the opposite:
YYA> That was specific to the house of Rabban Gamliel, as Nassi, the (hereditary/meritocratic non-democratic) leader of Klal Yisroel who had to deal with the Romans. Sort of a vocational school for askonim. That wasn’t an ideal or a model for the general tzibbur to follow.
I agree with this, it is not for everyone. But best yeshivos should follow R Gamliel when developing leaders. The equal and large number of students is obviously symbolic. Maybe they do, we are just not always aware of it. for example, R Auerbach allowed R Lau to prepare for bagrut exam while in his yeshiva and even chastised him when the bachur Lau expressed disinterest in math & science.