A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.
~~ http://www.lorencollins.net/tytler.html
The Democracy of Athens had rather limited exercise of the voting franchise.
And a Constitutional Republic like ours can have universal adult suffrage.
But yes, once 51% or more of the voting public is dependent upon government largess; the overwhelming tendency will be to vote for “bread and circuses”. In a Democracy there would be no check upon this impulse, hopefully a Republic under actual leadership can and will.