I think people get confused into thinking that democracy is about voting when it is should be about reducing prolonged concentrations of power, because of the innate tendency for it to be abused and hoarded. So to support your point, if your culture does not support the concept of good "democratic" governance, and no one strives for the institutions and constitutions to support it, you might be better off with a benevolent dictator, for as long as they last before a not-so-benevolent one.

Democracy and elections are not opinion polls. It's a distribution of political power.

Timothy Snyder would encapsulate this idea as "Democracy is not something you are, but something you do."

Which makes a lot of sense if you say the same thing about Christianity. Christian isn't something you are, Christianity is something you do.

Both have hallowed dogmas that are poorly understood by their followers, the constitution and the bible/teachings of jesus respectively.