Can Western Democracies really be called democracies, if apart from elections, every sub-organisation is run dictatorially?

Families are dicatorships.
Companies and Corporations are dictatorships.
Religions, by their very nature of having gods demanding unquestionable obedience, are dictatorships.
Police and military are dictatorships.
Government agencies are dictatorial.
The justice system, with the possible exception of jury trials, are dictatorial.
Are modern democracies, just elaborate fictions to fool people into believing that they are free and that their voice matters, when in reality, they are barely less oppressed and controlled than when ruled by kings, emperors, priests and popes?