The problem is that what we understand as theoretical democracy and what is generally practically applied on the ground are two philosophically different things. An anti-thesis of democracy itself.

Prof Lawrence Lessig of Harvard nails it when he calls this type of corruption of democracy as Tweedism.

Here's a quick summary of his thesis (2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJy8vTu66tE

Here's a longer, more academic, version (2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFZEV7TeZBg

Both talks begin with the Hong Kong student protests of 2014.