Democracy - getting it clear in my head

Democracy is derived from Greek. The "demo" part means people and the "cracy" (duh!) part means rule. So if all the people are involved in ruling, who are they ruling over? They say that in democracy, everyone involves in forming, managing the laws of the country directly or indrectly through elected candidates. So if I voted for a candidate and he did not win the election, then how can I be part of the government (indirectly)? So eventually democracy is nothing but the rule of the majority. The majority ruling over the minority? That means mankind has not progressed at all? It is either the majority ruling over the minority or the more powerful ruling over the less powerful. By the way, it seems democracy has combined both. The majority has the power to rule and the powerful have the leverage/influence over the majority. In a capitalist society, the rich makes the decisions, in a democracy, the rich pays the elected candidates to make the decisions. There is only one thing that the people holding power needs to do. Let the "demos" have a feeling that they are running this place. I should stop voting and hope that this country will eventually become a big mess and burn out. Then from the ashes, a new man will rise. This man will have some conscience and would define the future. I just hope that he does not choose democracy!