Perhaps the biggest problem with the American version of democracy is that it doesn't apportion power to the people in direct proportion to the vote.  Votes would mean more if they translated into proportional representation.   39% vote for Party X ... 39% of seats in government go to Party X.   Instead of a winner-take-all approach, which, as you say, can result in all the power given to the most populous states, it would mean more to make sure every political party that represents us finds a seat at the table.  One of the biggest mistakes our Founding Fathers made was to reject a parliamentary form of government.  In their rush to declare independence, they experimented with a different kind of democracy.  Not sure how the next four years will go, of course, but let's see how Republicans run the country as a minority.