Seems to me that on the local level, in a democratic system such as ours, it is somewhat more managable. We recently survived a high school mascot (indians) controversy. The larger the government, the larger the problem. However, I also think the larger the government involved, tne less value that is derived from the "public" square in the first place. A local town square has value, IMO, which is worth the occasional grief.
I have very little faith in the usefullness of democracy, but I would agree that it is about the best role a democracy may have: defining the leading culture.
The problem with liberalism is that it doesn't mind tyranny of the majority where it does all of its harm, in the area of economic life, and it decries it where it actually does something good, -- in cultural life.