True. I was using democratic as shorthand for democratic republic, but that does lose a bit of clarity.
Representative democracy is not worthwhile for its own sake, it is something that is earned. The basic idea of democracy has no room for an intermediate "council of elders".
Nothing is worthwhile for its own sake, but empirically speaking representative democratic societies have been the most successful in recent history, which makes it a reasonable default. What would you argue is better and more importantly, what evidence do you have that it would be more effective?
In a representative democracy like America yes, (a democratic republic actually) yet a pure democracy seeks majority compromise.