You’re kinda missing a point here, erie. We don’t let people vote as a reward for being good or serving the community. We don’t let people vote because the state needs the guidance of their wisdom. We let people vote – and weigh their votes equally – because, while they might not be equally civic-minded or equally good or equally wise, they are all equally people, and no one’s life is of inherently greater ethical value than another’s, and they – we – all have to live with whatever public policies our elected official decide upon. IOW, your say in the matter matters no more than mine, even if you’re a smarter and more moral person than I.
And in practice, experience has proven that whatever groups don’t get to vote – or get to vote but don’t get a meaningful choice – end up taking it on the ear. See Robert Dahl’s classic polysci book, Polyarchy.
Remember, also, that, in any case, democracy is not a theory of good government. It is a theory of legitimate government – a theory that, at least, has the advantage of being less clearly and obviously preposterous and/or immoral than any other theory on which sovereignty has been based throughout human history. It is the idea that the people as a whole are the only legitimate source of state sovereignty, and that their/our collective will, insofar as they/we have a will, should be done. If that also happens to be the best thing for them/us, so much the better. Or, as H.L. Mencken put it, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it, good and hard.”
I just can’t get behind the idea that I’m supposed to owe the country something. A nation is a tool. Its purpose is to improve and protect the lives of its citizens. It’s not an object of veneration. That’s like worshiping a hammer, or a pair of boots.