Germanaviator is correct in the sense that our system is underpinned with democratic principles and mechanisms. But the hazard of blithely identifying ourselves as a democracy is that people get the mistaken impression that they can or should weigh in on every little thing... those activists have no consideration for budgets or second/third order effects.

For example, ballot propositions, which have proliferated in the last few decades. They can serve as a useful safety valve in some situations, such as one-party states where the opposition party has effectively been removed from the ballot and government (ex CA). One notable safety-valve example was CA Prop 13, which capped property taxes to prevent people from getting forced out of their long-time homes by skyrocketing property taxes.

But propositions are usually sponsored by special interests with ulterior motives, and are typically written, branded, and marketed to conceal (or even mislead) their true purpose and impact. Voters get sucked into that without realizing or considering the budgetary impacts and second, third, etc order effects which is part and parcel of the legislative process. Generally if you think you need propositions, you probably should ask yourself why your elected reps aren't taking care of business.

My reaction to propositions is "The answer is No. What's the question?"

99% of propositions are BS and don't need to be given the time of day. Nothing bad will happen if every prop on your ballot is defeated.