What does democracy mean to you? Do you know that America is a republic and not a democracy?

Answer 1

Yes I knew that.

If you do any research on this by chance, you will find that true communism is the only real form of a pure democracy.

Answer 2

Yes America is a Republic. When someone says we are a Republic, they mean we are allowed to elect a president and we are not a Monarch like England. Americans elect their president, so we are a Republic.

Democracy means the majority rules. Meaning when we choose a president etc. the candidate with the most votes wins.

So, America is both a Republic (not a Monarch) and a Democracy ( Majority Rules)

Answer 3

Actually America is what is known as a Democratic Republic in which neither true form of Democracy or Republic is fully represented...in essence, we are (in Political Science terms) a "hybrid governance." To me American Democracy is the ability to know that even when it seems like the individual cannot change the fate of Big Government I know that our Constitution is set up in a way in which we all have a voice in the course of the nation. Let's just hope G.W. Bush doesn't completely take this right away in the next two years...

Answer 4

You make a false dichotomy.

A Democracy is any government that has a head of GOVERNMENT chosen by the citizens.

A Republic is any government that has a head of STATE who is not a hereditary prince.

Hitler's Germany, Saddam's Iraq, and Stalin's Soviet Union were all Republics but not democracies.

The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia are all countries which are democracies but which are not Republics. They are monarchies and their head of State is Her Majesty Elizabeth II.

The United States, France and Italy are all examples of countries which are both Republics and Democracies.

In the United States the head of State, the President, is selected by the electoral college. In Italy he is chosen by the legislature. In France he is directly elected.

In the United States the head of State is also the head of Government. In Italy and France he is the Premier, a different individual than the one who is President, and must have the approval of the legislature.

So common is this misunderstanding that many on-line dictionaries fail to understand it and give incorrect definitions.

Answer 5

A Republic can very well be a Democracy.
In fact the U.S. is a democratic Federation of Republic States.

Answer 6

Yes I do know that. I think a lot of people, use Democracy interchangeably, however there is a difference and that is what the founding fathers wanted. They did not want the majority making all the rules as the minority is then not protected.

Gore would have won the 2000 election and you wouldn't have time to work because you would be to busy voting!

Answer 7

Democracy means to me that I get to have a say about how the government is run and how revenue is to be raised for public operations. What is a Republic? A Republic is a form of government where others get to make those decisions named above, and to not ask my opinion about them, and to not care about what my opinion might be about them, and a dictatorship is where I am told what to do and if I speak up, I am punished.

Answer 8

Hello dear!
Many and nice comments/ answers by knowledgeable people, I read!
Still, the USA, being not on state but a federation of states, has another systems, something like federal democracy or republic, you name it!
The main issues is that the president being above the state leaders, is a new idea, thus we can name it any name we wish (and describes the reality!)

Answer 9

It is a democratic republic. Democracy (rule by the people from the Greek) does not require a vote on every issue before every citizen. Even the Greeks had a select council that took care of the day-to-day runnings of government.

Answer 10

The USA is a republic with a bi-party representative democratic government system.