I think the idea of believing that the strictly technical denotation of democracy is all democracy is, is to make the world a little more dim for yourself.

"In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."
"Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of."
(C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawntreader)