Each and every country that chooses democratic principles must find its own path. Having said that, I think there are some concepts of democracy that are common to all 21 st century democracies. Genuine democracies in today's world are characterized by a robust civil society, rule of law, vibrant political institutions, independent media, a constitution that defines and limits the scope of government, and an independent judiciary. Differences of religion, philosophy, and politics are tolerated and protected. While the rule of the majority is accepted, the rights of the minority must be zealously defended.
Democracies also grant full rights to minorities, women, and workers.
In my own country, democracy faced severe growing pains. It took us two tries to create the Constitution and the basic government framework that have remained fundamentally unchanged for 213 years. We are still hard at work, refining and adapting our government to changing times. Over the past two centuries, we have ended the repugnant practice of slavery and endured a terrible Civil War. We have lost leaders to political assassinations and suffered from political corruption.