Democracy, in the Athenian sense doesn't mean having a voice, or conducting elections. It's about duty and service. Ancient Athens, one of the most belligerent of the city states in ancient Greece, expected all citizens (which was not all residents) to do their duty, and dolled out responsibility through the drawing of lots.
Just for context. What most people refer to democracy in cybernations is thinly veiled anarchy. The expectation of sovereignty of individual nations is what causes most CN democracies to fail. Plenty of alliances have democratic or republican principles and still work.