Quite correct: Actually existing political democracy in the US has never been democratic. But traditionally *political* democracy has been showcased -- however fraudulently -- in American mythology as the arena where the People's Voice Is Heard. 'Round the time that uberhuckster Ron Reagan took control, USers started getting sold on the notion that government should be shrunk to the size of a walnut and replaced in all its responsibilities and functions by private enterprise. They were also sold on the notion that as individual equity investors they would somehow have a say in the governance of the magnificent enterprises that they "owned" and that business would be an effective new megaphone for the People's Voice. All twaddle of the first magnitude of course.
Carl