Looking back to the Revolution, our Founding Fathers did not want our nation to be the democracy it has become, but a republic. Today, it almost seems republic and democracy are used interchangeably, but in the Revolutionary context, what are the actual differences?
2007-03-07 11:53:54 · 2 answers · asked by babylon 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
I believe that a republic describes a form of government in which the population elects representatives to make laws for them. In other words, it is a REPRESENTATIVE democracy, as opposed to a democracy in which all of the people meet and make laws. Of course, it wouldn't be practical today for everyone in a country to meet to make laws (except perhaps in the Vatican). So republics are the only kind of democracies we can have today.
2007-03-07 12:04:02 · answer #1 · answered by actuator 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A democracy is a system of government where laws are amde by representatives of the people chosen in a fair and free election e.g. US, UK.
A republic is a special form of democracy where not only the lawmakers but the head of state is elected and is usually called a President, e.g. US but not UK, Canada or Austrailia (monarch), Malaysia (elected monarch) or Andorra (two princes, each of which gets the job because he has another specific job).
Note that somecountries call themselves rebublics but do not afford fair and free elections and usually turn out to be dictatotships or oligarcies.
2007-03-07 14:01:34 · answer #2 · answered by Adrian F 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋