"Democracy" cannot protect itself from it's own mindless greed. This is why the Founders left us a Republic, but over the years people have slowly evolved it into a "Democracy."
Now every touchy feely issue compels us to do something ever more stupid. That's because too many voters are just stupid and have no grasp of the difference between what "feels good" and what is prudent.
Yes, you are touching on the area where the names of the political parties actually could/should sort of mean something. Democracy is the rule of the low information voter.