Republic or democracy

What are we really. It seems our founding fathers intended for us to have a republic. I agree. what do you think. And isn't also true that the federal government exists only because the states will allow it to. Got this from wikipedia

Republic
Main article: Republicanism
In contemporary usage, the term democracy refers to a government chosen by the people, whether it is direct or representative. The term republic has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected head of state, such as a president, serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary monarch as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed head of government such as a prime minister.

The Founding Fathers of the United States rarely praised and often criticized democracy, which in their time tended to specifically mean direct democracy; James Madison argued, especially in The Federalist No. 10, that what distinguished a democracy from a republic was that the former became weaker as it got larger and suffered more violently from the effects of faction, whereas a republic could get stronger as it got larger and combats faction by its very structure. What was critical to American values, John Adams insisted, was that the government be "bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend." As Benjamin Franklin was exiting after writing the U.S. constitution, a woman asked him Sir, what have you given us?. He replied A republic ma'am, if you can keep it

"I pledge alligiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the REPUBLIC for which it stands." nuff said.

We are a democratic republic... Just had to be a smart ass...


Actually, we are a Republic. Nowhere in the constitution is the word "democracy". A republic is a society ruled by laws, which is what we are supposed to be.

Grim17 wrote:We are a democratic republic... Just had to be a smart ass...


Actually, we are a Republic. Nowhere in the constitution is the word "democracy". A republic is a society ruled by laws, which is what we are supposed to be.

Hey Grim. How are ya? Good to see ya back again.

hehehe... actually, given the lack of attention people pay to the constitution, and the spin that the elected ones put on the bill of rights, I'm not really sure that we are a republic or a democracy. More like a free for all for whatever group has control at the moment.

The constitution says a republican form of government.

Theophilus wrote:The constitution says a republican form of government.

So then would you say that is the politicians that are trying (going) to change it to be what they want it to be and not what it is supposed to be.

The difference between a republic and a democracy is the republic is ruled by law. A democracy is ruled by the people, in other words ruled by the majority. But it gets fuzzy because you can't have a republic without a democracy. You need the democratic voting process to establish the laws to be ruled under the republic. Without them it would simply be a tyranny. So the answer to both is yes. We live in a republic, a country governed by law. But we also live in a democracy, where the majority of the people decide those laws.

They seem like two different things but you really can't have a republic without a democracy.

A republic is ruled by law. Laws written by representatives of jurisdictions. Representatives selected by democratic process, in the case of the USA. Representatives can also be appointed, in some cases, but those who appoint them were/are elected by those who are represented. The process begins with a vote of the people. The "people" is a collective representation of persons within a jurisdiction, or land. Democracy is not a form of government, but a process to structure a form of government. A republic is a form of government.

A democratic government would require EVERY law, rule or proposal of any kind, to be voted on by the persons (not "the people"). This, if it were our form of government, would eliminate the need of our Congress, Supreme Court, and President. Our current form of government, the republic, is a hierarchy of Representatives, beginning with individual persons, and ending with the President. Our system of "checks and balances" prevents (or is supposed to) one branch (or persons) of our government from obtaining absolute power over "the people".

Hey DM, you really said it. especially with this sentence.

Our system of "checks and balances" prevents (or is supposed to) one branch (or persons) of our government from obtaining absolute power over "the people".

So being unable to do it alone it seems like they all got together and now rule as one body anyway.

But that is OK. Just tell obama what is wrong and he will spend more money to fix it.

It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! A conspiracy!

DM007 wrote:It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! A conspiracy!

Down boy, Yer starting to sound like the Dawg.

Old Timer wrote:

DM007 wrote:It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! A conspiracy!

Down boy, Yer starting to sound like the Dawg.

Ewww!

Old Timer wrote:

Theophilus wrote:The constitution says a republican form of government.

So then would you say that is the politicians that are trying (going) to change it to be what they want it to be and not what it is supposed to be.

Actually I was only saying what he constitution says. As far as the politicians changing it to they way they want it. I would say they did a good job of that.