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The population limit for democracy is about 500 people. That's why we have a republic.
by throwaway91111 10y ago
The population limit for democracy is about 500 people. That's why we have a republic.
- serge2k 10y agoThey are not mutually exclusive. The united states is a democracy.
- throwaway91111 10y agoErr, how so? There is no direct vote on any governance; certainly not at the federal level.
- mynameisvlad 10y agoSo it's not a direct democracy but is still a democracy, specifically a representative democracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy "Republic" is just a term to refer to a nation that is ruled without a monarch: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic Therefore, the two are not mutually exclusive.
- throwaway91111 10y agoOk, but I wasn't referring to democracy as a general concept, because that's useless. Why not just say "people vote"?
- mynameisvlad 10y ago"Democracy" just means "government by the people". That's why we have different types of democracies, to tell them apart. If you actually meant a direct democracy, then you should have said it. Don't expect people to be able to read your mind and then get mad and snarky when they don't. We can only interpret what we read, so being specific that you mean a direct democracy when you say the word "democracy" in a political thread is really needed.
- throwaway91111 10y agoAnd yet, it's not government by the people. It's government by representative.
- serge2k 10y agoElected by the people.
- throwaway91111 10y agoThen say "governors by the people". Governors ain't government itself.
- mynameisvlad 10y agoDude you can debate until you're blue in the face but in the end, it's called a representative democracy for a reason. That's an accepted term in politics. We have given you all the actual definitions on these terms and they show clearly that you're wrong. Just admit it and stop arguing this pointless debate. It's not that hard to do.
- jonathankoren 10y agoRepublic doesn't mean what you think it does.
- throwaway91111 10y agoYou'll have to enlighten me as to my own thoughts!
- jonathankoren 10y agoI suggest you read mynameisvlad's comment, or a dictionary.
- throwaway91111 10y agoI'm still not following. What exactly do YOU think a republic is? What you think I think a republic is? Why? Where are the two ideas diverging? Edit: I'm serious, the value of "democracy" over any other term is unclear if it doesn't refer to something specific.
- jonathankoren 10y agoDemocracy is the people rule themselves through voting. Democracy comes in two flavors. Direct democracy is where the people vote on the laws directly. Indirect or representative democracy is where the the people elect representatives to vote on laws for them. A republic is a government without a king. The United States, Germany, France, and India are examples of democracies that are republics (also known as democratic republics). Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain are examples of democracies that are not republics, as they all have a king. All of these are indirect democracies. An example of a non-democratic republic would be North Korea. An example of a country that is neither democratic, nor a republic, would be Saudi Arabia. BONUS ANSWER! Some countries have powers devolved to independent subnational governments. This system is called federalism. The opposite is a unitary state. The United States and Canada are both federal democracies, while France and Spain are not. (And to reiterate on the previous point: The United States and France are both republics, while Canada and Spain are not.) Seriously, we went over this stuff in 5th grade social studies. People only unlearn this stuff when it becomes politically convenient to unlearn it.