[philman_36]

It is a form of democracy as surely as a square is a special kind of rectangle.
But you're trying to compare a rectangle to a triangle!
The only thing they share in common is that they're both geometric forms.

[LibWhacker]

Part of the problem is there are many names for direct democracy and representative democracy. I've seen direct democracy referred to as just plain old democracy, or sometimes true democracy, or pure democracy,' etc. While representative democracy is sometimes called 'a republic, or parliamentary democracy,' etc. And make no mistake, a parliamentary democracy is different from our republic. But the point is, they are both forms of representative democracy. They are democracies. They are just different interpretations on the theme.

de·moc·ra·cy      /dɪˈmɒkrəsi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-mok-ruh-see] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun, plural -cies.

1.	government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2.	a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.