the difference between a democracy and a republic

Today we look at the difference between a democracy and a republic. Is the United States a democracy or a republic? The answer is both. The United States is not a “pure democracy” in which every decision is made by popular vote, but today scholars use the terms “democracy” and “Republic” interchangeably to refer to ‘every government that is given power by the people, but it is done directly from the people or their elected representatives.

Therefore, it is correct to call the United States a “democracy”, “democracy”, “democratic country”, or, to get more technical, “a representative of the federal government of democracy”.

Although the United States is a modern democracy, the world is now full of democracies and countries with different flavors: presidential countries, parliamentary countries, authoritarian governments, etc. Each form of democracy has its advantages and disadvantages, but they all share basic principles such as free and fair elections, guaranteed human rights and the rule of law.

We spoke with Del Dickson, professor of political science at the University of San Diego and author of “People’s Government: An Introduction to Democracy”, to learn more about democracy in First Nations, and the groups that create it. United States law. debate how best to retain the “spirit” of democracy while avoiding the dangers of “popular government”.

It was all started by the Greeks and Romans

The English word “democracy” comes from the Greek demokratia, which means “the people” (demos) with “power” (kratos). The ancient Greek city of Athens is considered the first and only “pure” democracy, founded in 507 BCE.

Dickson says, “democracy means rule by the people and the Athenians took that literally.” “There are no agents and the experts don’t like them. When there is a problem, everyone meets in assembly, they discuss and decide. “

But even in Athens, there was a measure of democracy. Only Athenian citizens could participate, not female citizens, foreigners, or slaves. Although some issues are put to a popular vote in an assembly of 5,000 people or ekklesia, the government fixes the government every day, in which 500 members are chosen by a random lottery called “type” . Although not elected, the football team served as representatives of their local tribe.

The Greek Church was open to every male Athenian citizen. But in practice, only 5,000 men out of 40,000 people took part, the rest were in military service or could not leave work time.

Our word “Republic” comes from the Latin res publica, which literally means “public” but is often translated as “state” or “state”. The first nation was built in ancient Rome at the same time as the nation of Athens, and Dickson says that in the ancient world, democracy and nation meant the same thing, the rule of the people.

At the beginning of the Roman Empire, only the wealthiest citizens (the patricians) could sit in the Senate, the governing body, but over time, more governing bodies were created for the plebeians (commoners) and other groups of Roman citizens.

Dickson says that the Roman nation was growing and represented until Rome became an empire, then tyrants like Julius Caesar rose to power and the nation fell.

Dickson says: “The Roman society functioned on a small scale, but the political system could not continue as it developed into an empire.

America’s founding fathers were wary of democracy

Fast forward to the 18th century, when founding fathers like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson debated the best form of government for the United States. These men were well educated in the ancient history of Athens and Rome, and inspired by Enlightenment political philosophers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Locke.

Dickson says, “Many of the legal writers like the words ‘democracy’ and ‘republic,’ but they don’t like what it means. “They are suspicious of democracy precisely because people are interested and selfish, and if you are not in the majority, you are in big trouble.”

John Adams expressed one of the strongest objections to allowing the common people to make important political decisions.

Adams thought there had to be “elders in the house,” Dickson said, who were more educated and skilled than “the big unwashed”. For the drafters of the Constitution, “democracy” and “Republic” immediately mean “democracy”, in which the people exercise their political rights through elected representatives.

However, at the federal level, the constitution allows for direct election of members of the legislature. Legislatures were not elected, but elected by state legislatures until 1913 with the passage of the 17th Amendment.

And the president was – and still is – elected by the Electoral College, not by popular vote.

Part of the progressive democracy, however, is the referendum on the state plan, which is accepted by a majority of popular votes.

And even the old school of Athens the idea of ​​sending is alive in the modern American system of jury service, which citizens are called to serve randomly.

the difference between a democracy and a republic

Types of democracy in different countries

The United States constitution is designed to create a balance of power between the three branches of government:

• the legislature (Congress),
• the judiciary (the court system), and
• the executive (the president, vice president, and cabinet) ).

This distribution of powers is based, in part, on the type of parliament that existed in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, when the Act was drafted.

The United Kingdom was not a democracy at the time, but in addition to the king (king or queen) it had a powerful parliament (legislative assembly) of representatives at least elected by the aristocracy. Dickson says, “UK divides power into one (king), some (House of Lords) and many (House of Commons).” “The United States took that and changed it.”

Instead of having an emperor as president, the United States has a president.

And instead of the House of Lords and a House of Commons, America has a Senate and a House of Representatives. (The UK did not have a Supreme Court until 2009. Until then, parliament is in charge.)

This type of American democracy is called “presidentialism”, since the president is the head of state and is elected separately from members of Congress.

As Chief Executive, the President also exercises certain powers, such as the right to veto bills passed by Congress, appoint members to the Supreme Court, and serve as Commander-in-Chief.

There are nearly 80 democracies around the world that follow the same type of president as the United States, including Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines.

Another 23 countries have both a president and a prime minister, with the president acting as head of state. France, Russia and South Africa are examples of “semi-presidential” democracies.

The second main form of democracy today is the “parliamentary form”, in which the people do not directly vote for the president.

Instead, they vote for members of parliament, and whichever political party gets the most seats in parliament chooses the president, who is called the prime minister.

The president is usually the leader of the ruling political party.

There are 36 parliamentary countries in the world, plus 36 monarchies, where there is both a prime minister and a king, who acts as a head of state without real power.

Ireland, Fiji and Bangladesh are examples of countries whose governments are based on parliamentary principles.

The modern United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.

The main difference between a democracy and a parliamentary system is that the parliamentary system cannot control power, since one party controls the executive and legislative branches.

This means that there are often roadblocks in parliamentary politics, which is good for the ruling party, but less so for the minority opposition.

“The presidential system is set to move slowly,” Dickson says. “No one can force and violate the rights of minorities.”

Whether it is the president or the parliament, what makes modern democracy a true democracy is the faithful adherence to democratic principles: the rule of law (constitutionalism) , representation based on free and fair elections and guaranteed rights, including freedom of speech, press and religion. With this, some countries are democratic in name, but not in practice.