When people say "this country is a democracy, or that country is a democracy", they've obviously referring to the "representative democracy" or a "republic", not direct democracy.
What they mean is a free country, where everyone has equal rights. So you're just arguing semantics. That being said, I do think current "democracies/republics" need a lot more true direct democracy influences in the system, especially US, which has the least direct democracy influences from all the world's republics.
What they mean is a free country, where everyone has equal rights. So you're just arguing semantics. That being said, I do think current "democracies/republics" need a lot more true direct democracy influences in the system, especially US, which has the least direct democracy influences from all the world's republics.