Does democracy exist? Did it ever exist? A lot depends on how one defines "democracy" or what features belong to functioning democracy. I don't believe there is a white/black answer here; all democratic nations are in different shades of grey.

In Canada, when the ballot box shows the governing party no longer has the support of the people, the leaders of that party willingly step aside for the new leaders. As well, we citizens have the freedom of association to build the new democracy I am proposing.

These two features might not be here in a decade for now. If so, democracy will have taken some big steps backward. Until then, we can still build a new way.

Consider reading this recent article of mine:

https://medium.com/tiered-democratic-governance/a-kinder-wiser-democracy-78778c87819e

Everything is in the power of average people. But they need to stop believing that traditional participation works----OR they are indeed so powerless.