> So many major policies, from abortion to the role of religion in the public sphere are decided in America by unelected judges, whereas Europe for the most part manages to pass legislation on the same issues through democratic consensus.

I’m not sure that’s entirety true. It is true that the US tends to act on courts alone more often; that is, it doesn’t bother legislating at all. But a lot of civil rights issues in many European countries originate in the courts; the government acts when it realises the courts are going to do something. This is particularly true of the ECHR.