I agree that a Republic can have democratic features, and I agree that we aren’t a pure Democracy. The U.S. is not a pure democracy. Since all future political philosophers have used their naming, the distinction is important. That maybe made sense at the formation of the parties in the 1800s, but too much has changed and the parties too broad and factionated for that to be true today. FACT: When Plato and Aristotle first gave names to the forms, they specifically used Democracy and Aristocracy to denote who rules. The United States of America is a type of Democracy (not a pure direct democracy, as is the classical meaning of the term, but a mixed-Republic many democratic elements and a democratic spirit). A republic, in the classical sense and the sense the us established a republic in is a very democratic thing rooted in an aristocracy. Finally, democracies and republics stem from a very different view of human nature. There are many ways to say this, and many more details to add, so keep reading if you are interested! The people we elect do not, for the most part, run the country in the interest of the people; they run it in the interest of themselves. This is because terminology is largely a matter of semantics and context. You can also read more about why our founders picked a Republic instead of a Direct Democracy here. There is absolutely no truth to America being any kind of democracy. When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1879, America became the first modern democracy in the world. While a term like “mixed-Republic” ultimately works well to describe the U.S. (using other for descriptors as needed), it helps to instead understand the classical government types upon which the United States is based (giving one the tools they need to describe the system for themselves). one can argue that the founders intentionally attempted to build the ideal state from Plato’s Republic with the separation of powers that Montesquieu suggested, the principles that Locke suggested, and more; and as suggested by all the aforementioned, they purposefully avoided creating a “direct democracy”). The United States is a representative democracy, as the public elects individuals to represent them at the government level. In reality, both were mixed systems like the Venetian Republic. 1) It’s what England used to call rotten borough. The USA is a democratic republic, not a representative democracy. Calling us a democracy is a HOAX perpetrated by the Democratic Party in 1828 because they were concerned with maintaining enough votes to continue slavery and white supremacy. I think you have this backwards. Rather, both the will of the people and their representatives are beholden to a set of laws or principles. Most Americans are too ignorant and misinformed by a corrupt corporate/social media to be able to warrant democratic rule. We are a Republic and each state has a Republican government. And so they had every right to do so a second time, like they did in 1861; but murderous charlatans revised history to seize power under this false claim of “indirect democracy,” an oxymoron coined by “useful idiots” who desired a benevolent dictatorship, and the additional oxymoron of “document-limited government” which equates solely to pagan dogma. 51% cannot vote away the rights of the other 49%. This qualifies the American constitution to be the oldest in the world. Does that make sense? Essentially, a Republic is designed to protect the minority from the majority. So, the lesson: liberty, equality, democracy, capitalism, order, authority, and more are all great things, but they don’t work good in their pure forms. In short, the US is a Constitutional Federal Republic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t also a type of democracy. The answer is, “it is both…. Only males could vote but only after serving two years on the military. We literally have a representative democracy… in a republic. If you think you’ve found the answer in the extreme of a political party, think again. Improving it as a stronger republic, not trying to shift it towards a democracy. The constitution should be subservient to the changing times (which essentially boils down to public desire). First, putting the term republic under the term democracy. If you go back and read old political speeches and the writings of the founders this becomes clear. They work best when “mixed”, in a “system of checks and balances”, retrained by “a set of fair laws”. If you study the structure of our government this becomes clear. The idea is maximize liberty and equality by using authority, order, and restraint. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/. Likewise, Bernstein’s claim that people were trying to purge the term “democracy” is untrue. No. So is the US a Democracy or Republic? The … The argument above and the links I think makes a strong enough case for me to say this with confidence. Politics. MOST AMERICANS LIVE IN SUCH A FANTASY. In words, they work best in a Constitutional Mixed-Republic. It isn’t easy to translate in practice all these years later, especially with 240 years of American history at our backs. – The first line of the Father of Political Science Machiavelli’s the Prince. Because again, I am right. Constitutional because of the Constitution, Federal because its a Union of states and commonwealths (each with their own republican governments), and Republic because 1. the people are sovereign and ruled by law, 2. the nation is sovereign and ruled by law, 3. and it is “ruled by the few [representatives]” (an Aristocracy), and not “ruled by the many [directly]” (Democracy)  or “ruled by one” (Monarchy). To illustrate this, consider the following true statements: In other words, the U.S. is a Republic (in that it isn’t a Monarchy or a Despotic state), but it is a specific kind of Republic where the classical government types (including democracy) are mixed. And therefore, the GOP’s Mosaic pretense, along with its false claims of national authority, enabled its international Jihad to destroy real democracy, replacing it only with a mockery of true consent; and thus the resulting imperial oligarchy soon invaded Europe under similar pretense, and then Asia. The exception to this is that people do vote directly for some state-based laws brought forth by the people, initiatives and referendums (see how voting works in the United States). Ruth Coffee from Zionsville, Indiana on June 11, 2018: Can't disagree with any of that. No, we are a republic, not a democracy. They wanted America to be the furthest thing from democracy. A purposefully mixed republic, a shot at that ideal mixed constitution. We are not now, nor have we ever been, a representative democracy, a constitutional democracy, a republican democracy, or any other form of democracy. Thus, we can say, we live in a Republic and be correct, or speak of “our Democracy” and be correct, but more specifically we have “a mixed-Republic with a Democratic sub-system”, essentially the mix of Democracy, Aristocracy, and Oligarchy Plato called a Kallipolis and Aristotle called a Polity (i.e. The biggest lesson that needs to be taught here is: Today, we elect people to run the government for us. Due to the mixed nature of the United States, and specifically due to recent deregulation of campaign finance, some call America a type of oligarchy called a corporatocracy (where crony capitalists and corporations make the laws). Still, we say the word Republic in the pledge because we are one. Consequently, they understood the distinction between a Democracy and a Republic. But time has moved on and America’s democracy no longer ranks as a world model. Learn more about the basic government types and the political left and right. The people can speak freely, run for elected office, form groups, vote on many positions and state-based measures, etc. We don’t elect our President or many other positions directly. Those who observe the Constitution in Article VI as “the supreme law of the land,” conveniently ignore the first three words of the Constitution WE THE PEOPLE[S, of each state, RESPECTIVELY] was the AUTHORITY by WHICH it is ordained and established. The form is an advent of constitution and rule. Anyone on this page that says it is, is an idiot and needs to go back to not only our founding documents but, also in our forefathers writings. Thus, each state is a sovereign national democracy in which the voters are the supreme rule, and can overrule their government by popular vote, and thus are the supreme power in the WORLD over their state. That is very well written, and I respect that. The United States is also a constitutional democracy, meaning that the functions and roles of the government are governed by the constitution that also protects the rights and privileges of the citizenry regardless of whether they are majority or minority. Comments. Read the “little” book” ‘The Rich and the Super Rich’. Meanwhile, democracy means exactly what the Declaration of Independence says: “government deriving its power by consent of the governed,” so that the People have the right to alter or abolish it, and institute new government. As we aren’t a direct democracy at our core… but certainly referring to the U.S. as a Democracy or our Democracy is still valid (as, like when we say Republic, we are implying the true form). The only caveat here, and the caveat from which most of the confusion comes, is that the U.S. is not a pure direct democracy (where everyone votes on and creates laws directly; which is what “democracy” means in the classical sense, and is what America’s founders were trying to avoid). BOTTOMLINE: It is a myth that the United States is a “Pure Direct Democracy” in the classical sense, however it is not a myth that the United States “is a Democracy” regarding the idea that it is a mixed-Republic with a Representative Democracy, a democratic spirit, democratic values, and some direct voting on state-based laws. This is positively and absolutely false because we are what they call a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY! No where does it talk about America being a democracy of any kind. Both Democracy and Republicanism are core concepts of liberalism, and both are ensured by “the Republic” (which is why our ancestors choose those terms for the parties).[10]. We are not a democracy at all. But, the truth is, is that those democratic actions that did happen, should have never happened in the first place. Slowly, stopped losing wars, and it was under the “Roman Yolk” in a relatively short time. This and many other key points are explained in detail below. NOTE: Remember Republic isn’t “a classical form”, I put Republic next to aristocracy to show its aristocratic nature, but it is more like a container in which other forms can be placed. So, the classical forms are: Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, and Tyranny. The constitution is the supreme arbiter of law. Matt Dorfman. true democracy. The United States of America is a Constitutional Federal Republic, not a Direct Democracy (which is the traditional meaning of the term Democracy). Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, our nation’s oldest and most trusted dictionary since 1828 is the same dictionary that’s used by Supreme Court Justices. What is the Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic? Which is a wonderfully democratic thing, especially in this country with our system of representative democracy within the republic. In the US, power derives from the wealthy and influential and voters are just as meaningless as the Electoral College. I welcome you all to the third world. Therefore saying the the floor is only gray is wrong, and saying the floor is only tan is wrong. Or for short, a Mixed-Republic (where both Republic and Mixed imply a popular government). Given the above, comparing a Democracy and a Republic is, classically speaking, a bit like comparing apples and oranges (this can be confirmed by Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws CHAP. A direct democracy is a system of government in which the majority have their say on every matter concerning governance. Republics are not beholden to popular mandate or majority will. That is why they call for people to be subservient to a higher set of principles that transcend their own nature. It killed Socrates. That is why we have a mixed government. Our corporations write their own laws through their puppets in congress. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Not most of the time, some of the time, or usually, but ALL OF THE TIME. How the United States lost the faith of its citizens—and what it can do to win them back. Feel free to enlighten. They are not and should not be. Nobody We are commonly taught that democracy is a product of ancient Greece. We can instead just say: United States of America has a “mixed democratic and republican government,” which is what the term Republic essentially implies in the first place. Believe in democracy and your children and grandchildren will start dying at an arlming rate and your will not understand why! TIP: When people say “our Democracy” they are referring to our Democratic spirit and tradition, they aren’t being literal and referring to our power structure which is more Republican by nature. Consider we direct almost all state level and all legislators directly (then they mostly vote on laws). It dictates a separation of powers: an Executive, Judicial, and bicameral (two part) Legislative branch. We are a mixed Republic, a mixed government, we have a representative democracy and elements of direct democracy. It’s the only thing that makes democracy unique from all other forms of government. Some rights such as the Bill of Rights, the right to vote, and the powers to amend the constitution are limited and cannot be changed by the sitting government without consulting the public directly. And they are right. Your argument is fine, but you are being overly dismissive of the democratic elements… me thinks because you identify as a Republican (if I have to guess). The pledge is a nationalist hymn of sorts written in the late 1890s, then updated in the 1950s to say the word “God.” Its a fun story, read it here: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm. 5) An American is the luckiest person on the planet. There never was a Democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.”, “In Federalist Paper No. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. For as Johann-Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, “there are no People more hopelessly enslaved, than those who falsely believe that they are free.”. Great thoughts and well said, but hopefully my response helps better explain my perspective. “One man, one vote” is a poisonous concept which could never be acceptable by our constitution. Our founding fathers were in horror of the ruinous concept that citizenship automatically carried the right to vote. Like in Plato’s “Republic” you end up with at least a partial oligarchy when you mash the 5 forms up to create a mixed Republic. That is why the Constitution leaves the question of who can vote up-to the “several sovereign States”. There seems to be a cognitive failure, regarding the inability of written laws to constrain those IN final authority; and so they blindly trust to the Constitution as some sort of pagan dogma which they hold as unbreakable by oligarchs who wield final authority; and just as Jesus called out the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, and Martin Luther called out the charlatans, the American People(s) must call out the federal government as hypocrites and charlatans who illegally and murderously seized power over sovereign nation-states, under color of law. The Electoral College, gerrymandering, photo IDs and other voter … You will never confuse a democrat with a republican. [1][2][3][4][5], One way to phrase this is the United States of America is a “democratic republic” or a “representative republic” (a “representative democracy,” in a Republic). Consider, a Republic can be defined as, “a system in which citizens vote for representatives to represent them,” and democracy can be defined as, “government by the people, who either vote and make laws directly or through elected representatives.”[8] As so long as we note that the United States’s overarching system is not a “Pure Direct Democracy” in the classical sense, we can say that the terms Republic and Democracy are otherwise not mutually exclusive. Fact YouRAmoron! The United States is a popular government, a Republic (which implies a popular and lawful mix as opposed to a despotic, anarchistic, or tyrannical government). I WISH SOMETIMES I STILL BELEIVED IN SANTA CLAUSE BUT THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS WORTH KNOWING. What I said about the United States of America is that it is both a type of Democracy and a Republic. None of these words mean the same thing, rather they all have different meanings and all apply to the United States in-practice (and even in theory in the Constitution; although that was more republican than the system in practice which with its direct voting on Senators, its Amendments therefore, is more democratic). Indeed, this is the trap the author of the above article has fallen into. more information Accept. The United States of America is governed as a federal republic, and therefore some argue that the U.S. is not a democracy. The US is def NOT a democracy. The Republican party is no more Republican than the Democratic party, and the Democratic party no more Democrat than a Republican. Just technically speaking, we don’t even have a pure representative democracy. The list goes on and on. To Summarize all the above into four points: Read in full: The Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. However, we should acknowledge that the Greeks generally encouraged aspects of oligarchy in their ideal mixed government (not because they loved oligarchy, but because the human condition essentially demands it, as can be seen in Plato’s theory of a producer class from his Republic for example). So next commenter who wants to say this, give the article another 5 minutes of your time and realize I’m trying to convey good information. The United States is a republic, no matter how you spin it. Functionally, this article, either intentional or accidental, plays straight into the hands of those who would destroy our constitution. This distinction (“in distinction from others”) is extremely important. Our nation is a corporate oligarchy and Americans are way too disinterested in politics and def too stupid for the US to ever be a democracy. “The United States is a republic, not a democracy.”. What defines it is who makes the laws and rules, and in the U.S., elected officials rule and make the laws, not the people. See a history of Human Rights documents. 3. This is plain from the fact that the Constitution was ratified by the Peoples of separate nation-states, basically by their popular votes each OVERRULING their respective governments; and they did NOT expressly unite as a SINGLE nation-state by doing so– as did nation-states of Scotland and England in 1707, to form the single nation-state of Great Britain. Consequently the U.S. is in many ways based on all three, although it also drew its principles from other past governments like England’s post-Glorious Revolution government and Lycia’s Confederate Republic. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. This is why the colonies broke from Great Britain as 13 separate sovereign nation-states, and not a SINGLE nation-state as early revisionists claim. Our founders picked a Republic on purpose… but they envisioned a more aristocratic form of government than the one we have now (with the hope that it would stave off corruption and special interests). Well, I still think by the guys at Princeton that shows that America is an Oligarchy is pretty much spot-on. If you think of a single word that describes a Federal Republic where a President is elected by appointed party electors, that is advised by a customary state-based popular vote that is weighted to ensure a minority voice in terms of states, let me know. On that note, we also don’t offer professional legal advice, tax advice, medical advice, etc. Democracy always leads to suicide, John Adams. You state the United States is not a “democracy” in the title, then immediately move the goalposts when you clarify in the description “[direct] democracy”, an extremely specific type of democracy that almost no country implements. I’m not anti or pro trump or Clinton here, just giving insight into what is. In the classical sense, the U.S. can be described as a “Republic” (which generally implies a mix of aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, and democracy, and rule by elected officials and the laws they create like the Constitution) with a Representative Democracy (rule by elected officials and the laws they create), and a general Republican and Democratic spirit, value-set, and subsystem (where the democratic elements denote the liberties and rights of the bill of rights, elections, and direct voting on laws, and where the republican elements denote law, order, and a popular mixed government). The general form of Government of the U.S. is “a Republic” and not “a direct democracy”. FACT: According to the CIA World Factbook America is, a “Constitution-based federal republic; with strong democratic tradition”. The use of “in other words” is so often, it made me laugh. TIP: Article IV of the Constitution reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…” Thus, not only is the U.S. a “mixed Republic”, each state in the Union is also a “mixed Republic”. They control the laws that govern you too. How true this is in practice is a matter of perspective, and requires a deep understanding of history and the current political system. However, people vote on some state laws directly (those brought to the state by the people)… which is Democratic. With that said, given the current rankings and money I make of this page, probably not. It is IMPOSSIBLE for them to coexist because of democracy’s “precise” definition – rule-of-the-majority ALL OF THE TIME. The US officially has a representative style, though many mistakenly refer to the United States as a democracy. Neither FactMyth.com nor its parent companies accept responsibility for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused as a result of reliance on information published on, or linked to, from Factmyth.com. With the above introduction in mind, fully explaining the liberal, democratic, republican, federalist, etc nature of our mixed government in the classical and modern sense is a bit of an art (so bear with me while I repeat a few points and make a few more). Despite the democratic elements and traditions, the U.S. is not however a “Direct Democracy“ (where people vote on laws directly*). These could be a list of principles, religious rules, a constitution, or a set of guidelines. Although clearly monied interests do have a ton of influence for a myriad of reasons. Then at a state level we have many democratic elements. To verify the accuracy of this statement we need look no further than to the fact that the first political party founded by two of our greatest founding fathers, Jefferson and Madison, called themselves the Democratic-Republican Party. No they did not. It is a Republic, but it is Democratic. These protections have been built in, and can protect all Americans, if you leave them the hell alone. They disagreed on the mix, like they do today, but they did generally agree on a set of guidelines (as seen in the Constitution and Bill of rights). Is the United States a democracy? According to the author, “You’ve suspected it for a while now, and a new study agrees — America is no longer a democracy. Not at all. NOT one single advocate of “democracy” in any way, shape, or form has provided U.S. government documentation penned by the CREATORS of the United States to substantiate their claim. Most Republics have an underlying representative democracy. When Athens did become a democracy, it destroyed itself. When we say Democratic, we mean favoring the people (we aren’t talking about the Democratic Party). You’ll here people throw out there that it is a representative democracy. TIP: A good way to understand government types is to understand the “attributes of government“.
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