From the original pilot it is clear the intention of the show was to establish a moral progeny, which eventually led the show to becoming the most pious & politically charged of all the Star Trek shows I have seen(all but Voyager). The scene which most illustrates the length at which they go would be Quarks critique of liberalism. With that scene Armin Shimerman owned his role as Quark, which is so uncharacteristically Star Trek in nature, by being so good. The show continues to critique the liberalism present in Star Trek and in doing so divorces itself from the rest of Star Trek. Instead of presenting the fantasy of traveling the stars, DS9 constructs a harsh reality of living among the stars with the inevitability of war.
From the Founders Melian dialogue-esque view toward other races, to the existence of warships in the Federation to the way the show dealt with PTSD, DS9 is unmatched when it comes to shows in the Star Trek universe in covering the human condition through war. It's through these hardships and the fact that they must accept the consequences of their actions that divorces the show from the usual fantasy of Star Trek & delivers a transformative story. The philosophical difference between TNG & DS9 is the difference between a show that always has a good ending and a show that can end tragically.
When viewed in aggregate after I've finished both, the difference in practice is profound. While the former was clearly influenced by television at the time, it's clear to see that the latter was trying for something new for the time that's currently in vogue by shows like Breaking Bad or The Wire where there is true character development. The dynamic between characters on TNG is stagnate, few characters end the show in a different position from whence they started. The irony is that despite traveling thousands of parsecs across the universe, the TNG cast generally leaves the show in the same place that they started. While in DS9 all the universe's a stage, and all it's cast mere players, they play many more parts & trek so far without travelling but a few parsecs from whence they came.
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