What is the difference between Democracy and Republic?
The common parlance of the word “democracy” is actually closer to the meaning of the term “republic”. When a politician refers to a “democracy”, they most likely mean a “republic”. The terms have been so misused that now they seem to be synonymous, but in reality they are not. Democracy, in it’s basest form, is nothing more than a majority rule. The ancient Greeks, especially the Athenians, had something very close to a true democracy. The citizens all voted on everything that came up, and the majority won. This allows for 51% of the people, to control the other 49%. Democracy is rule by the people. There is no “middle-man” or a representative that is elected to act on the wishes of the people. A republic is based in democracy, but is very far from it. The democracy does not have any checks upon power. The republic has those checks. In the U.S. that is the constitution. Another difference is the way things get done in a republic. A republic has a representative government. The people c