Democracy does not mean merely that we hold elections. Communists had elections. Election campaigns are not the sum total of democracy. Democracy means the elected government obeys the expressed preferences of the electorate. We don't have that anymore. See [EVIDENCE OF DEMOCRACY FAILURE] below.

The ability of the citizens of the US to affect political change by electoral means ended with the 1980 election, when the CIA intervened in the electoral process (The October Surprise).