In talking about real democracy Noam Chomsky says that in real democracy we shape decisions together going to action. People are "free from the coercion of centralized power."
The problem with centralized power is that it runs from a belief that it cannot trust people to act in unquestioning blind obedience. It is the nature of human experience to want to have the freedom to volunteer to participate in governance and in shaping our world together. It is our nature to care for others and the whole. It is this capacity for caring that is suppressed in hierarchical systems that are designed to maximize personal gain.
The work we do in creating more democratic and truly democratic workplaces is profoundly important to the transformation of a world where people live in the freedom and equal opportunity.