This comprises part of what I would've answered so I'll just add a couple of points.

That decisions made by the exec layers in private corporations extend far beyond their employees via externalities. For example DuPont's actions that lead to polluting everyone's blood with PFOA whether or not they had any relationship with DuPont, business or otherwise. Or Norfolk Soithern's decisions that led to the reduction of home values in East Palestine following the freight train derailment earlier this year. Or the decisions made by Exxon's execs to misinform the public about climate change resulting in climate action delayed by decades and thus all of us suffering the current and future destruction and death. We have to live with all of the decisions made in the private sector that affect us and voting with our wallets clearly isn't an effective way to influence them.

The other is the ability for the same narrow class of people to decide what politicians to buy and what laws to have tbem write for their own benefit. And if this sounds a bit disconnected from unionization, consider where the money to do this comes from, and where would a lot of that money go in a strongly unionized corporation. The money goes into the workers pockets and there's a lot less left to buy politicians with. And that directly amplifies the votes of the many individual voters in the political democratic sphere. Of course there's also the amplification factor that is the higher disposable income in the workers pockets that allows for lobbying of their own. And then there's the amplification factor that is the unions themselves which can lobby politicians on behalf of their members.

Democratic workplaces such as worker coops are likely even better than unionization at improving on all of these points but that model is less familiar to people and it can't be applied to established corporations via unilateral employee action.

So to answer the question of what actual democracy means to me, think about the above and picture democraticy as a pie chart. One part corresponds to decisions affected by your political vote, the other - decisions that aren't. Currently the part that you have no say in is significantly larger than the other. In an actual democracy as I have it in my mind, the proportions would be reversed. The 80/20 would have the 80% of the decisions made in the country by people who represent me or my class. An actual democracy in economic speak is one where the balance of power between capital and labor is heavily tilted towards labor, because labor comprises the vast majority of people in the country. Here labor means anyone who has to work to earn a living instead of living off capital. Therefore it includes anyone from the burger flipper through middle management to the theoretical physics researcher.

I hope this makes sense. 🥹