Democracy was founded in classical Greece, and given a great boost in the late eighteenth century. Democracy represents an historic movement  shifting from almost exclusively hierachical social structures towards forms of collective governance.

This does not end with the democratic structures that has evolved to date, and it doesn't even necessarily imply some form of suffrage, universal or otherwise, and elected representation.  Fundamentally, it is about decentralization of power, and respecting the voices of the multitudes.