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A republic, not a democracy (view source)
Revision as of 17:32, December 1, 2007
, 17:32, December 1, 2007this ambiguous slogan is easily exploited
The slogan '''"a republic, not a democracy"''' is used by some [[democracy]] supporters to alert listeners to the particular kind of [[democracy]] which the United States Constitution provides.
The distinction is between [[direct democracy]] in which everyone votes, and the majority rules; and a [[representative democracy]] in which executives are elected to rule the people.
The phrase "not a democracy" is unfortunate because its meaning within the slogan is "not a [[direct democracy]]" but it can easily be taken as "not a democracy at all". Critics of the US, who want to accuse it falsely of not being democratic love to exploit this ambiguity.
The distinction is between [[direct democracy]] in which everyone votes, and the majority rules; and a [[representative democracy]] in which executives are elected to rule the people.
The phrase "not a democracy" is unfortunate because its meaning within the slogan is "not a [[direct democracy]]" but it can easily be taken as "not a democracy at all". Critics of the US, who want to accuse it falsely of not being democratic love to exploit this ambiguity.