Democracy protects the majority against a minority.

The minority in this case typically being a powerful minority, like an aristocracy. Democracy is a show of hands. If we outnumber you, we get our way.

  The laws (and more importantly, the rule of law) are in place to prevent the tyranny of the majority?

That is another way to phrase what I wrote, no? Yes, even when we are unpopular, we still have legal 'rights'.

> Liberalism is what protects a minority against the majority.

> Liberal Democracy strikes a balance between them. Typically the majority gets to determine who is in charge (democracy), and enshrined legal protections protect minorities from the bias and wrath of the mob (liberalism).