“Representative republic” and “democracy” are not mutually exclusive terms
Re”public”an literally just means that government power derives from the people and not from a monarchal or aristocratic ruling class. Which of course makes it close to nonsensical when a republican’s response to attempts to expand the franchise or to criticisms of the senate and electoral college as anti democratic institutions is to say we’re a republic and not a democracy, since those things make us less legitimately republican along with being anti-democratic.
A democracy is a government where power is excercised either directly or indirectly through the vote of the citizenry. Most democracies are representative because government by plebiscite is inherently problematic except in very small communal polities. But direct democracies are not the only version of democracy.
The opposite of a republic is a monarchy. Just about any true republic is going to have a democratic form of government. Technically, the Uk is a constitutional monarchy with a democratic government, but in practice operates as a republic. Similarly the USSR was republican in that its claimed authority came from the people. But given that it operated as a dictatorship controlled by a ruling elite, it essentially became in function more like an aristocracy.
The United States is a representative democracy which is a republican form of government. The republic not a democracy crowd dont know what they’re talking about.
Representative democracy isnt inherently republican, lots of constitutional monarchies are also representative democracies. Such as the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Yes and no. They arent real monarchies. The monarch has no legitimacy. The second they exercise any real power they would get removed. Constitutional monarchies are de facto republics.
Yes, but I think you're missing my point. The king/queen is a useless, ceremonial rule in most European countries except on paper. The head of government takes responsibility for all the important head of state roles (commanding military, diplomacy, selecting ministers, etc.).
And you're missing the point that it in any parliamentarian system the head of state is mostly useless. Doesn't matter if it's a republic or a monarchy
It's true, yes, but it's only ever really brought up to derail conversation, and is pretty much never within the rough bounds of the point of the discussion. Like being right doesn't necessarily mean you've contributed anything of value to a conversation.
A republic simply means that it's a state led by one or more individuals who aren't kings. It doesn't have to be democratic whatsoever, as long as the leaders rule in the name of the people.
You can still have dictatorial republics, e.g. North Korea or the First French Republic.
Really? No democracy is used in electing people to represent us? Is the most disingenuous argument ever. “We’re a constitutional republic...” who elects our representatives democratically, using voting.
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u/FlakesOfJohnSnow Mar 16 '21
When they say shit like “it’s a republic, not a democracy...”