The majority of citizens in a democracy are fooled into thinking they have any influence in their government's decisions:
"Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial
independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no
independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of
Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism."
The US Constitution has been designed to minimise the effect of majority rule. It often takes a hyper majority to get populist laws enacted. The resistance is the strongest in the Senate.
Lots of countries to pick from if you don't like how yours is governed. Vote with your feet if you want to leave, or with your time if you want to stay and change the system. I vote with my time and (more so) my dollars.
"Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism."
http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/fil...