People and their governments

Are the people responsible for what their government does?

Yes, according to Willis Harman, author of Global Mind Change:

"...[N]o matter how powerful the economic or political or even military institution, it persists because it has legitimacy, and that legitimacy comes from the perceptions of the people. People give legitimacy and they can take it away. Challenge to legitimacy is probably the most powerful force for change to be found in history."

The uncomfortable implication is that we cannot just shrug collective shoulders, saying "we do not like this, but there is nothing we can do".

In the end people get the government they deserve---at least in countries where democracy is claimed to rule. For the rest of the world, example would be the best antidote to authoritarianism