Most democractic countries hold a general election every four or five years in order to vote in a new government. In the meantime the politicans and sometimes the public too have forgotten what all the promises made, were. If the government starts doing things, that apparently the majority disapprove of, there is actually not a whole lot we can do to stop them. This is particularly the case when the government has a large majority.
Lobby groups have a mixed outcome and tend to be focused narrowly in their own interests.
As said above, the ordinary person on the street has virtually no input. This state of affairs, we are constantly reminded, is called democracy. There never seems to be any discussion about changing the status quo or how things could be changed to increase the level of participation by the people. The implication is that it is at near perfection and therefore does not have to be modified. There is no mechanism for you to register your approval of some of the policies and disapproval of others.