Democracy or Republic, What is the Difference?
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The Republic of the United States
Often, in a political argument the phrase, "We live in a democracy!" is used. For those people living in the United States of America this is a grave misconception which it an irritant to many people.
Not only can this deception cause misunderstanding of the way the political system works, it can cause serious misinterpretation of the law.
Let's consider the words of the Pledge of Allegience, something all school schilden used to know. It contains the words, "...and to the Republic, for which it stands". The United States is, and always has been a republic.
What is the Difference?
A democracy and a republic differ in a major way.
In a democracy the country is ruled by the majority. For the sake of example we can say that the senate, and the house of representatives are a democracy, in that it takes a two thirds majority vote to pass any bill.
However, in a republic the people use the democratic voting process to vote in a person to represent them, either their state, or their district, or whatever. This representative can vote any way he or she wants to, he is not bound to do what the majority of his constituents want him to. During an election, the people are not voting for the president. They are, instead, voting for the representative that will ultimately vote for the president. This is why a candidate can win an election by the popular vote and still not win the election.
The benefit of the republic model of government is simple. Majority rules can get ugly. Large groups of people can be deceived, and fall into mass hysteria based on emotions. In a republic small groups of people can not be discriminated against because they fall into disfavor with a larger, more powerful group.
In a democracy the majority can vote against a minority and win, in a republic it cannot. Consider what could have happened during the 1960s if the United States had been a true democracy. With majority rule, the white majority could have voted slavery back into popular use, had they wanted to, and some of them did. With majority rule, women would not have gotten the vote.,
Laws in a republic are held in place by reason, and thought. They are not arbitrarily produced by the whim of a majority of people. In a democracy the weak are at the mercy of the strong, it is a governmental system of bullying.
Will it always work the way it should? No. There will be times when people slip between the cracks. It is, however it is a good system, and it is a system that has worked well for over two hundred years. The founding fathers of the United States set up a document, called the Constitution which was set into place to give the government the authority to protect the rights of the individual. These rights are the same rights that we are so easily giving away in our modern, enlightened society.
Knowing the difference between a democracy and a republic will help society to understand the political system better, and make decisions based on that knowledge rather than on emotionalism.
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Thank you for concisely addressing one of my pet peeves. Too often do we hear politicians, who should know better, refer to America as a democracy. As far as I can tell, democracy is a polite way of saying mob rule. We are (and always have been) a constitutionally limited republic, just as the framers of our constitution intended.
Marye, Excellent hub! I too carried the misconception that we are a democracy and carried that to its conclusion, not a pretty one, that the majority rules. Thank you for calling our attention to the fact that we are a republic and what that means. I wonder if our politicians understand what a republic is. As I remember in school, I learned that we live in a representative democracy. I guess that's the same as saying we're a republic. What do you think? I also wrote a hub about democracy. I think it means that we citizens have a responsibity to educate ourselves. Thanks for helping us do that.
For clarification, Beth's school instruction about a representative democracy approximately equating to being a republic, I must say that a representative democracy, unlike a representative republic does not automatically create separation of powers, or, more colloquially, branches of government. The early Roman Republic had only the Senate, while the late Republic also had the plebian assemblies. Many have called the representative republic, our American model, the most successful form of government, but history indicates otherwise. No republic form has ever lasted three centuries, while monarchies and other hereditary forms, including empires, have tended to greater longevity.
I think at this point it is all moot anyway..we seem to be on a strong socialist course.
This is a good Hub, I do not know how anyone could have ever thought we were a democracy, its scary to know there are so many ignorant (and because of their ignorance)dangerous people in this Country! I guess I should have known after the 2000 election when a lot of people were confused about the "Electoral College" I hope a lot more people read this and gain some knowledge from it.
Here is the way I have always explained this to people when it pops up, hope you don't mind me sharing.
Pretend you have two groups of people. Group one has 15 people, and group two has 3 people. In a democracy, if group one voted to kill group two, group twi will soon be dead by "mob rule" er I mean democracy. However, in a republic, each group will elect one person to represent their group. Those two representatives will then vote. Now the vote is 1 to 1. Looks like group two will live to vote again. And since I am probably one of the oddballs in group two - Thank God! whew! that was close!
Great Hub Marye, I am enjoying!
Awesome Hub Marye
Audet- Libertarians love majority democracy, while Liberals love republic. Radical-right rhetoric all about Republic while ideals proclaim majority domination; strict interpretation of Constitution concerning legislative law. Go figure!
Great hub! Thank you so much for this. If only we could get this information out to absolutely everyone! I am adding this hub link to my hubs. I don't know how I missed this!
Thanks for bringing this out. I had a conversation with a newly indoctrinated American citizen and asked her how she will make her voting decisions. She said she will vote Democratic because they want democracy. When I picked my jaw up from the floor, I tried to explain. I will send her to your blog. (Not taking sides for parties, just want her to be informed.)
Mayre, if we do not deal with our economy ASAP, we will crumble and cease to be a Republic. I'm glad there are people in our country who know we are a Republic. By the way, I wrote a hub about the election results and going in the right direction, and I linked to this hub. Great Job!
Actually we live in a Constitional Democratic Republic with a Bill of Rights. Sounds like a long description but that is what it is. To simply say that we live in a Republic misses the boat. Iran is a Republic. So is China. So is North Korea for that matter. Clearly all Republics are not the same. So what is it that makes ours different. We are not an Islamic Republic. We are a Democratic Republic. We aren't a pure Democracy because that simply produces a tyranny of the majority over the minority. For that reason a Bill of Rights was demanded to insure that the protection of minorities would be part of the game plan. In a simple democracy majority rules, and the south would still be segregated. It's our Bill of Rights that makes the difference.
The founders (like Thomas Paine) created this Democracy, which means (latin) "Govt by the people." Or as Abraham Lincoln once said, "Govt of the people, by the people, & for the people." DEMOCRACY is the "form" of govt, & the word "Republic" means the "public business of a govt." As Thomas Paine said -- "It is on this system that the American Govt is founded - It is representation ingrafted upon DEMOCRACY." (p.154). "What Athens was in miniature, America will be in magnitude." (The very first democracy in the world was in Athens, Greece in 500 BC). At the US first convention they had disagreements, "but such is the nature of representative govt, that it quietly decides all matters by MAJORITY." (p.162) HERE is something I find very interesting: "General Washington is president of the new federal govt, He is rendering every service in his power, & refusing every pecuniary reward. He accepted NO PAY as commander in chief; he accepts none as President of the United States." (p. 163)//Rights of Man (1792)PAINE.
The Founders set the United States up to be a Democracy, & one of the most well known, Thomas Paine, was a personal friend of Tom Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin. He wrote: "It is on this system that the American Government is founded. It is representation ingrafted upon DEMOCRACY." "What Athens was in miniature, America will be in magnitude." (He is referring here to the world's first democracy, in Athens, Greece 500 BC)
---From: RIGHTS OF MAN (1792) by Thomas Paine.
You are all wrong, what you describe is ochlocracy. Democracy has nothing to do with ochlocracy, unless it is combined with demagogy. Otherwise republic would be also equal to corruption, since it is easier to corrupt 1000 "elites" in power (which is actually the case in general) tham 100,000,000 people.
Blogger Mom 4 years ago
Marye, very well explained! I will be sure to speak correctly in the future (I always thought of the US as a democracy). Great hub!