Notes

Do you think we place too much power in leadership's hands?
I think the Speaker of the House typically has a lot of power and maybe too much. While The Constitution doesn’t really give the Speaker tons of direct power, it seems that it naturally arises given how they operate with their party. They are effectively able to prevent a bill from being voted on (practically) and set the agenda. The leadership has tons of power through the media. If you think about it, the leaders get the media coverage and not so often do the "regular" people get it. Through this they can set the policy tons in ways the President can't. There is also a sense of "butt kissing" with the members praising the leader and remaining loyal for the sake of election purposes. Many Democrats want the President to be impeached but the Speaker has held off on this. Republicans remain loyal to Trump and very few openly oppose him though many secretly oppose him. The same is said for the Speaker but to a lesser tone. I think grassroots movements could be easily destroyed to the big dogs in Congress. While most of the power comes from how the party is, given how divisive politics is, I think it will be more important than ever for Congressmen and women to get behind their leader.
Committee Chairs
With Nancy Pelosi being speaker of the house, the is more of an old type of Democrat in comparison to AOC. While AOC promised changes to her voters, Nancy Pelosi may not support it and therefore could prevent her from being a part of any initiatives.

Should Congress be completely Democratic?
No. There should not be complete Democracy but a balance that allows new ideas and opposition to reach leadership levels. At the moment, I think the system is ineffective for outsides ideas and it can lead to potential conflict.