The constitution guarantees a counterbalance. Roughly 50% of the time the control of Congress is with the opposing party to the President--and the rest of the

The constitution guarantees a counterbalance. Roughly 50% of the time the control of Congress is with the opposing party to the President--and the rest of the time Congress is with the President. So it's not unusual at all for Congress to pass a majority of legislation that is proposed by the executive branch. But your last paragraph is troubling: democracy is not at risk in either case. Democracy is what puts the leaders in place. Voting still matters. The only current problem with US democracy that I see is the lack of voter engagement. We only get 60+% of voters to turn out for elections.