Republic (Politics)
A Republic is a term used to describe a wide number of different forms of government types. The single common principal, however is that their power structure is, de jure, not the preserve of a royal family or aristocracy. Several countries which describe themselves as republics, have however, become de facto monarchies such as North Korea and Syria. The body of the state in a republic is derived from the people rather that from a monarch, and thus the law is enacted and enforced in the name of the people or of the state its self rather than in the name of the monarch.
Most Republics subscribe to one or more of the following principals:
- Equality before the Law
- Some form of Democracy
- Limited Government
- Freedom of Religion
Many modern constitutional monarchies resemble republics in all but name.
The United Stated as a Republic
The Constitution of the United States of America, in Article IV, guarantees to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, however the courts have generally resisted challenges to state governments based on this guarantee, stating that this is a matter for the congress rather than for the courts.
Under this article of the Constitution it rests with Congress to decide what government is the established one in a State. For as the United States guarantee to each State a republican government, Congress must necessarily decide what government is established in the State before it can determine whether it is republican or not. And when the senators and representatives of a State are admitted into the councils of the Union, the authority of the government under which they are appointed, as well as its republican character, is recognized by the proper constitutional authority. And its decision is binding on every other department of the government, and could not be questioned in a judicial tribunal. ... Yet the right to decide is placed there, and not in the courts.[1]
In the federalist papers #10[2], James Madison discusses the concept of a republic as opposed to a pure democracy. His concept of a republic is a representative democracy and this meaning has become a very commonly cited definition of the word in the United States, though not internationally. It also should be noted that this definition of republic has not been seen by the US courts as being binding on the states. The United States is often referred to as a "constitutional republic," in that one written instrument, embodying a compact between the people and the government, is binding on all levels of government.
Many American popular themes also self-define America as a republic. The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (a popular fight song for the Union during the Civil War)[3] describes America, in its title, as a republic. The song also connects the concept of American republicanism[4] to the unique role of God in directing the Republic,[5] a concept affirmed in the more modern Pledge of Allegiance, which also connects republicanism to God in its text.
References
- ↑ Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 (1849).
- ↑ http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm
- ↑ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000003/default.html
- ↑ Note that "republicanism" is referred to here as denuded of any political party context.
- ↑ As the Battle Hymn reads, "as He died to make us holy, let us die to make men free.
