> That's, at best, misleading. I don't think so. Talking about engagement and participation is very well, those are indeed important aspects of a citizen's lif

> That's, at best, misleading. I don't think so. Talking about engagement and participation is very well, those are indeed important aspects of a citizen's life, but they can also happen in regimes which are not democracies. Democracy means the sovereignty of the people. This sovereignty is embodied at decision time, which is elections/votes. Most certainly freedom of speech, good education, political debate, etc. are requirements for a democracy to be healthy, but these traits can be found in other regimes. > you realize your vote very rarely makes any meaningful difference It all depends on how you define meaningful, I guess.