In what ways does public opinion influence the formation of a democratic society?

Wow, their is a lot of ways that can influence the formation of a democratic society, the biggest one being the public, i mean really everything is formed by the public and are really vocal about it. Hence the freedom of speech that was put in place by the founding fore fathers (because i am sure they were chalk full of ideas that needed to be spewed out on the table) and the way things were run back in the day. And since we are on that topic we are also able to vote on what we want or don't want, when many places in the world they don't have that capability or they do but are never heard and acknowledged. All in all the fact we are able to speak our mind and vote for that very same reason are a HUGE role in influencing the formation of a democratic society.