The US is supposed to be a democratic republic, not a direct democracy. The representatives in government are free to govern as they see fit, without being controlled by what the majority of the population want. But the US also has various mechanisms to temper pure democracy, such as the Electoral College, because pure democracies are vulnerable to being overtaken by demagogues and mob rule.

The question is whether democracy is a panacea or whether it, too, has a downside.