The third acticle of confederation pretty much sums up the extent of the power they originally intended to give to a federal government: at issue was not creating a great democracy but protecting liberty and the sovereignty of each state, and beyond that collective security.
II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.
III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.
The difficulty with democracy is that it is the fruit of liberty. A country without a history of protecting civil liberties, or a rudimentary concept of it will struggle for years creating a democratic state where there is rule of law and jurisprudence.