You appear to be confusing individual authority with collective authority. Of course you, personally, cannot get out of being arrested; if anyone could get out

You appear to be confusing individual authority with collective authority. Of course you, personally, cannot get out of being arrested; if anyone could get out of being arrested by voting or saying that they are a member of the populace and thus are the ultimate authority, that would be pretty silly. But rather, the people, collectively, are supposed to be the top level of authority. If the people want to vote out the current administration, they can. If they want to change the laws, they can vote for representatives who will do so. If they want to change the constitution, they can call a constitutional convention. Now sure, no individual can do this alone; they have to get a substantial fraction of the populace to do it along with them. However, there are several factors that work against this. One major one is secrecy. If what the government is doing is hidden, then they cannot provide oversight (nor can their elected representatives, or the courts).