Republic vs Democracy
By msbyte
@msbyte (219)
United States
February 2, 2007 9:42pm CST
A Democracy is when the Supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly or indirectly through free elections.
A republic is a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who is usually a president. Supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to the law.
My question: In your opinion what is the basic fundamental that separates a democracy from a Republic?
What do you consider the United States to be?
Do you know why people are continually calling the United States a Democracy, when in fact it is a Republic?
2 people like this
1 response
@beautifulceiling (1300)
• United States
3 Feb 07
I'll take a shot at this one.
The US is a Representative Republic. You have already defined the difference between a Democracy and a Republic. I think that most people call it a Democracy because the system is more democratic (small "d") than the place that the original settlers came from, so the concept that we were democratic began to cause us to be called a Democracy which is technically a misnomer. You can be democratic without being a formal Democracy.
@msbyte (219)
• United States
3 Feb 07
Thank you for the response, keep pondering!
It amazes me when people who are supposed to be
"in the know" like political commenters etc,
call the U.S. a Democracy when the pledge states
"...of the United States of America, and to the
Republic for which it stands..."
1 person likes this
