a representative democracy. We vote for our president and representatives to congress out of trust, supposedly, that they are qualified to make law and govern. The federal judicial branch is supposed to keep them honest. We don't pick those but we rely on those we've trusted to act as our representatives. Voting comes with great responsibility and, IMO, it's failure of that responsibility that causes most of our problems. Your mention of possibly allowing more "direct power" seems counter intuitive. If we can't even pick a good president and representatives to congress, what makes you think we can pick good judges?
We, the people, need to start by not blaming those we sent to DC for what they've done. We, the people, did this to ourselves. We, the people, need to work on our qualifications to vote intelligently. We, the people, also need to learn how to support our opinions in a way that causes people to want to listen rather than using shouts and insults that turn their ears away.