> What I said was, if a system of government allows one group of people to turn another group of people into slaves, then it isn't a democracy. By my definition

> What I said was, if a system of government allows one group of people to turn another group of people into slaves, then it isn't a democracy. By my definition, a democracy does not allow slavery, because a democracy must treat all citizens equally. Your 'definition' here doesn't coincide with reality, where a group may easily be oppressed by the majority. The fact that the example is at the most extreme does not invalidate that. Democracy does not require any sort of protections for those it is governing, just that they have a vote. > To me it's more than that. It's a principle of governance. Not just the how of the system, but the why. But it's not that. The principles you are ascribing to democracy are neither unique to nor a requirement for democracy. In fact quite frequently they are not. That is my point, people keep conflating democracy with these qualities that it does not possess. Advocate for those principles, not democracy.