The voting, taxpaying citizens of the USA are the government! Those people in Federal service (elected and non-elected) are simply people we hired to manage things. Unfortunately, too many of them seem to have lost sight of this principle. My personal view is that we have taken the wrong path granting any government officials any special degree of respect.
Heinlein put it this way:
In a mature society, civil servant is semantically equivilant to civil
master.
Glenn is correct with regard to gov't using force to keep the masses in line. Any group that is powerful enough to keep the population under control through threat of force usually becomes the government, whether by agreement or de facto.
Our country is a representative republic, not a democracy. We, as a people, sent representatives to hash out a constitution, then it was up to each colony-state to accept, reject or modify it until everyone agreed on the content. In theory, as long as the gov't stays within its bounds, it is legitimate (this does not guarantee
good government however).
African villages have, for centuries, used three different methods for selecting their leaders. The warrior test wherein young men compete by skill and strength for the job. Other villages turn to the oldest member(s) to guide them with their experience. Third is the wise-man rule where men are tested for wisdom in complex disputes.
(The so-called shaman or witch-doctor leaders are offshoots of the warrior as it's his skill in keeping villagers in fear that keeps him in power)
Once a leader is selected, your choice is either to stay and agree to his control or to leave for another village. Don't like our method? Fine, move to Bolivia or Saudi Arabia.
Which method of government is best? The question is best for whom or best for what? Each has its flaws and involves large numbers of people. It's like herding cats.
Democracy is based on the idea that a million men are wiser than one man. Autocracy is based on the idea that one man is wiser than a million men. The debates are endless.