In a democracy if four men and a woman are stranded on a desert island they can vote to see if the men can have sex with the woman. She will probably lose the vote, and gets gang raped by the tyranny of the masses. That is wrong. We all understand that is wrong. American is a Constitutional Republic.
Individuals have the right to life, liberty and property.
The Republic part means that we vote in representatives to do our bidding, and don't vote on everything ourselves. The judges are supposed to agree to challenge any law that is unconstitutional. So in our little analogy, an individuals is saved from the tyranny of the masses. Problems Now in America, and throughout the world, people have been misguided and believe that the rights of the many outweigh the right of the one or the few. But it is just philosophically a bad idea.