When politicians state,”We are not a democracy, we are a republic,” it makes me think that they are either uneducated on the subject or are just trying to confuse and scare people.
They are correct in that the U.S.A. is not a pure democracy, but incorrect because the U.S.A. is a representative democracy.
Our Founding Fathers organized our form of government (representative democracy) as a republic.
The U.K.’s parliamentary system is also a form of representative democracy.
Most dictionaries use republic and representative democracy interchangeably.
You can call our form of government a constitutional republic, because the U. S. Constitution is used to make and interpret the laws.
You can also call it a democratic republic because our citizens have a say in electing our representatives, but also can put forth citizen initiatives.
People can govern themselves by participating within our form of government. .
So yes, we are a republic, which I consider the best form of democracy.
Rawn Swallow, Salt Lake City
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