Brexit is another moment where it went awry IMO. Some simple considerations: should our elected governments serve the will or the interest of the people? If a group manages to start a referendum to abolish taxes and they get a majority, should their will be done? Can people who don't pay taxes have a say? If we have a representative government, but they should represent the will of the people, shouldn't we have an actual cross representation of the population instead of voting in upper class silver spoon people? The people that exercise their passive voting rights want to have power, are these people best fit to represent the people's interest? Wouldn't a lottery be better?
A good democracy should consider this and create the appropriate checks and balances.
This is why I think democracy = mob rule greatly undersells democracy. Sadly in a time where politicians care more about polling numbers than governance, the two get conflated more and more.
My heart tells me the government should represent the interests of the people however the will is also factored in subconsciously or not.
It's why you have two or more parties that represent the interests and to a degree the will of their voting constituency.
The checks and balance part I whole heartedly agree, that is why the Supreme Courts exist... But, the folly here is it lies up to the population to implement said checks and balances of their democratic systems
They put it in their constitution that a military coup is allowed and it happened... Opposers to the coup however felt it was not in their best interest for it to succeed and it played out as such if there were a slight majority that held an opposing view they absolutely need to let their voices be heard.
Saying they were staying home because that's what they were told to do may have been valid at the moment but the second it appeared the coup failed it was time to act - making excuses otherwise reminds me of when people said oh brexit didn't represent the will of the country because some people voted ironically or didn't bother voting at all.
You're right though democracy = mob rule isn't the best way to go about it