Sure, I'm fairly confident that "Democracy" for many Americans means "my political beliefs" and does not designate an ideal political structure in which the sys

Sure, I'm fairly confident that "Democracy" for many Americans means "my political beliefs" and does not designate an ideal political structure in which the system of government is determined by the populous. In the American context it's become one of those meaningless, overloaded sham words, wrought with personal interpretation and emotion. For the American, anyone who is defending his own political prescriptions is a defender of sacred democracy. I mean, jeez, we do such a poor job at political education in this country that I'm sure a large swath of the population couldn't even articulate ideal principles of a well-structured democracy.