Worth considering is Daniel Greenfield's article on "The Democracy Fallacy":
... [people] failed to understand that democracy is a tool. A means not an end. Used correctly democracy can create a republic of free men invested with rights and responsibilities. Used incorrectly democracy can lead to political bloodbaths, anarchy or a genocidal madman.
... The fundamental error ... in messianically embracing democracy as an ultimate good, is that we contrast it with tyranny as the ultimate evil. We falsely assume that tyranny is evil because it is undemocratic.
... Democracy and freedom are not the same thing. ...
