For, and by everyone (or nearly everyone), which does confer on it some amount of legitimacy. Still though, I agree that if people are able to go off and try new things, that's a good thing.
My sister can tell you how little a democratic voice matters from 18 years of getting outvoted by my brother and I. The Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Chinese in Malaysia, and the Sunnis in Iraq might also disagree with you about the legitimacy of mob-rules democracy.
I really don't see why people think they have some "input" in democratic decisions, other than decades of conditioning in schools run by a democratic government. Try submitting a story and getting it to the front page of Digg. You have approximately zero chance. Your influence over public policy is much, much smaller.
Once you realize that there are more than two choices for any given policy decision, in fact there are almost as many choices as there are people, then you realize how incredibly farcical your "democratic voice" is.
For, and by everyone (or nearly everyone), which does confer on it some amount of legitimacy. Still though, I agree that if people are able to go off and try new things, that's a good thing.