Actually, democracy was practiced much more in the early church than it is today.  In NO place in the gospels, did Jesus ever condemn democracy.  But Jesus did not have kind words for those who placed heavy burdens on the backs of the people and did not lift a finger to ease the burdens.  Jesus also was quick to point out that John the Baptist did not wear the fine clothing of those in palaces.  Jesus, himself, wore home-spun clothing, walked to most of the places where he preached, and did not have a place to lay his head at night.


In THE ENCYCLOPEDIA of EARLY CHRISTIANITY there is a whole article about the "Election to Church Office" [by Everett Ferguson, 1997].  People in the early church centuries DID elect their own bishops.  Examples of this are the bishops Sts. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine, and popes Sts. Polycarp, Cornelius, and Leo the Great.  Democracy is a good thing.  The opposite of it is an absolute monarchy or totalitarianism.