> But this is all very off the mark. You are describing liberalism
> (libertas--freedom) here, an impoverished individualism that does not at all
> capture the essence of democracy, which is, instead, the idea that people
> (demos) retain their own power (kratia), and actively use it to make
> decisions collectively.

"Liberalism" can have many meanings, I'm not sure which one you have
in mind here. Do you think that in democracy people shouldn't be free
and shouldn't have any choice? Or that individualism doesn't let
people to retain their own power? Or maybe that they should entirely
forget about their sex, skin colour etc. to be able to partake in it?
As for definition of it, demos means citizens and kratos means rule,
so it's actually the rule of the citizens, and in its original form
doesn't say anything how to make decisions and only citizens had the
right to make them, and that exluded women, their slaves, etc. I
presume you don't want to implement this now, do you?

> In a democracy we are not autonomous individuals
> free to choose whatever we want as long as it doesn't limit the freedom of
> others (this is Mill's harm principle--again, liberalism),

We are not autonomous individuals? Why is that?

> instead we are
> each of us connected to all others in a demos that makes decisions
> (exercises its collective power) together. Voting is only one (not very
> democratic) way to do that, but of course deliberation, consensus processes,
> general assemblies, spokescouncils, etc. are options as well.

Connected to all others? By what means? Maybe you've dreamed something
like this?
http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/File:Catspirovski.png
otherwise you won't find two exactly identical people :P
Voting is only a statistical research performed on a huge scale to
find out what people want, just a simple temporary compromise
(according to principle: we can't make them all happy, so we will make
the most of them happy, keeping in mind that what current majority
wants may change in the future), not a mystical experience. You can
easily manipulate the results by changing the sample (taking away the
right to vote, denying the right to partake), so if you start to do
it, it won't be a democracy anymore, just tyranny.