Self-Determination and Democracy

I have been thinking about democracy and self-determination, I think in some areas they are incompatible. If everyone has the right to vote then we are all dependent upon the education and knowledge of others in being able to make well reasoned choices. If too many people choose to not be educated in choosing a candidate who actually serves their interests, rather than being fooled by propaganda, then democracy fails and devolves into leadership by popular strongmen not dissimilar to imperial rule in the Roman Empire.

It would seem that the choice is either to force information and participation down the throats of the unwilling or else allow the vote to be restricted to those meeting some metric of education or service. That would seem to be rather dangerous as by manipulating enfranchisement would be very tempting for those tasked with determining what the metric should be.

I do not know where I am going with this thought, but I am sure to stick my foot in it at some point.