According to The American Yawp, volume 1, chapter 9, American democracy changed in the 1820s by becoming more open to ordinary people, who participated in the democratic process as never before.

From the 1790s to the 1830s, the political elites in each state had to listen—or pretend to listen, as the book has it—to the voices of the multitude, whose supposed ignorance and licentiousness were deeply feared by the social and political establishment. This process proceeded apace in the 1820s with the remarkable rise of Andrew Jackson.

The increasing spirit of democratization in America found its ultimate expression in the election of Jackson as president. An unabashed populist, Jackson claimed to speak for the common folk, the very people looked down upon by the traditional elites. Though himself a wealthy man, Jackson spoke the language of the common man, and this extraordinary gift helped him to win two terms as president.

The rise of Jackson had a positive effect in that more of the common folk who'd previously been shut out of politics got involved, often rising to prominent positions in the federal government.

The downside, however, was that this led to widespread corruption in government, with departments becoming crammed with Jackson's political cronies, many of whom were woefully unqualified for high office and saw their new posts as nothing more than a license to steal from the public treasury.