Well.. partly yes of course. But it's also partially about systems. For example modern democracies all accept "one person, one vote" but that rule of engagement

Well.. partly yes of course. But it's also partially about systems. For example modern democracies all accept "one person, one vote" but that rule of engagement is part of the reason we have polarizing political systems. If we had "one person, one minus and one plus vote" the situation would be very different. It's of course true that if the people don't support the system they can overthrow it, like Maost China, Tsarist Russia, Revolutionary USA, and closer to home here in Sweden we have had several total rewrites of the constitution. So at the very bottom the people have to accept the system to some degree. But all this doesn't mean the system doesn't influence behavior. It does. A LOT. Just go into Reddit with the up/down vote system with publicly viewable vote counts on each comment and see what that does to the debate climate. It's bad!