In a democracy one person, one vote do mean equal influence per citizen, as in a democracy people decides policy. The USA is not a democracy, it is a republic,

In a democracy one person, one vote do mean equal influence per citizen, as in a democracy people decides policy. The USA is not a democracy, it is a republic, a system where people vote for a small number of representatives who then decides policy in the name of the people. Nowadays these two words have shifted in meaning in popular usage, what used to be democracy is now called direct democracy and what used to be a distinct republic is now indirect democracy or representative democracy a.k.a. democracy. This kind of slippery semantics is most probably a consequence of years of propaganda to persuade people they live in a democracy so they won't ask for one. Then again, in the USA as many other places around the world, this small number of elected representatives holding the power of policy are subjected to the oligarchic / plutocratic power and influence of a few wealthy entities. Or as better said in this quote: «the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.»