"North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-il is reported to have picked his youngest son as a successor, and the mandatory worship has already begun:

In recent weeks, North Korean diplomats abroad have been told to begin to pay homage to Kim Jong-un and some schoolchildren have reportedly been including his name in their songs.

Many believers might argue that such misplaced devotion is a likely consequence of suppressing the true religious instinct. It’s not immediately obvious to me, however, why it’s better to worship a non-existent, or, to put the most optimistic spin on it, an invisible entity about whom we know nothing, than a concrete human being. It is not the case that worshipping an absent deity is less prone to producing fanatical and murderous excess. At least with a living being we know what we’re getting. "
http://secularright.org/wordpress/?p=2087

Interesting question.
I don't think the Islamic worship of Allah promotes fanatical and murderous excess.
Rather I would say that terrorism seems to work for those that employ it, and therefore it is
used.
Terrorism is a political device.
And the entire nation of N Korea currently lives with the State oppression of it's citizens.
You could say that N Korea has already achieved what the Islamic terrorist desires. The terrorists goal is a state like N Korea [yeah, a different godhead but to me it's not a significant difference].

There seems to be quite advantage of the ruler being the god. With the "non-existent" god one argue or have some doubt about what that god "has in mind", whereas with a living god, one needs only ask for specific orders. Handy.
But the issue is one has a totalitarian state and with any totalitarian state you have tendency of worshipping the leader. You worship the leader and you get food, you don't worship you starve- if you lucky enough not to be caught then tortured and/or murdered.

"Could we conceive of a democratic god or divine assembly?"

Don't we have that in America- by having it one's choice of who one worships [or deciding not to worship any god]- and not having a State religion?