Yes, there is something special about being a "republic" and being a "democracy". But that's an exercise for the reader to make the distinction between "government by elected officials" and "government by direct participation" in their own minds. Regardless, though, the United States is not an experiment in open democracy.

Regarding the context of the Constitution, prior to the Federalist Papers, there was Scottish Rite Masonry from which many of the principles that became the Constitution were bouncing around. So, in a way, the United States is the ultimate Masonic conspiracy (within the context of the first fourteen degrees of Scottish Rite.) [I'm really going to love the responses to this!]

Lastly, thanks for validating my point about totalitarianism. But you might want to be a little less condescending in the future.

The United States is not an experiment in open democracy; the Founders established a participatory republic, along the lines of the "other" highly successful republic, namely, that of the Roman Republic. The Founders explicitly shied away from establishing a democracy for the simple reason that democracies do not scale beyond a small collection of city states. Had it not been for the endemic corruption within the Roman Republic and the entrenchment of a landed aristocracy (patricians), that republic would probably have lasted longer (note: that's a "five martini" debate topic -- go and discuss!) That's the brilliance of the Founders in finding a way to overcome the problems endemic to the Roman Republic to ensure that a republic can (and will) survive the predations of corruption. (Not that the United States hasn't had its own issues with various political machines, vis. Tammany Hall, or the predations of the early 20th century Progressive movement, but nothing is absolutely perfect.)

Open government? Democracy? That's a recipe for totalitarianism -- because only the strongest consensus builder can assert control to get anything done and few, if any, checks and balances can be imposed or enforced.

(Orwell was a conservative!)