Voting is only a democratic tool, but its concept is not the same as voting.

That’s right! You can have two final candidates. At least one of them can talk like the people and act like the people. Telling people what they want to hear. At the end, he is just another puppet chosen by the elite.

The word democracy means several things

I think this one we handle in US very well unlike in Venezuela 🇻🇪 where unbelievably one one person decides what’s wrong and what’s right as you mentioned.

Freedom of expression and independent media:...

In this case it’s controversial, fortunately in US we have alternative media. MSM are mostly sponsored by government and big institutions which makes mainstream media at least dishonest and manipulative. However at the end it’s your choice to decide what’s true and what’s false. In Venezuela it’s totally different, most media are not allowed to report the truth, at least government won’t allow it as you pointed out. It’s the same when it comes to separation between public life and private life, basic freedoms guaranteed by law and limited time as president and multiple candidates in each election. Once the dictatorship is involved, there is not much of a chance for real democracy. Mostly only manipulation, corruption and power plays the biggest role. As you mentioned, as long as people let themselves being manipulated, they play into their cards.
Great article @dedicatedguy!