Democracy (rule of the majority), gives people the choice to vote and enables the economy to experience a free market. Giving people the right to vote may seem to be a step towards freedom, but when deriving the specifics of government legislation, it is ultimately the political party/person elected who makes the decisions. They are not legally obligated to stand behind what was promised to the citizens that obtained votes in the first place. Specifically, politicians may be bribed by third parties and/or make decisions based on vested interests, and not taking the opinions of the nation as a whole into consideration. Democracy does not ensure freedom because freedom is based on individual decisions, and when living in a democracy, decisions are made from a representative which does not actually represent the minority or even majority (if bribed) for that matter. With regards to having a free market in a democratic society, it actually leads to less freedom. .
For example, free markets are actually still regulated by the government, or by large, wealthy firms. Relatively speaking, there is no such thing as a perfect free market. Governments will always have control over quantities and products being imported. The influx of these products and services eventually leads to an increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Under this so-called "free market" economy, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer because goods and services are only marketed towards those who can afford it. Poverty is definitely not a characteristic of freedom. Being restricted to reliance on government assistance programs is not an example of freedom. .
In addition, businesses are always looking for ways to maximize profits, so as a result, social injustices may result (a kind of hindrance on freedom). For these reasons, democracy does not ensure freedom. On the contrary, the concept of freedom may be ambiguous.