"Democracy" and "republic" are orthogonal. Republic tells you who is sovereign: the people--as opposed to a monarchy. Democracy tells you how decisions are ma

"Democracy" and "republic" are orthogonal. Republic tells you who is sovereign: the people--as opposed to a monarchy. Democracy tells you how decisions are made: by voting--as opposed to a dictatorship. You can have a democracy that is not a republic: Great Britain. And you can have a republic that is not a democracy: North Korea. The U.S. is a democratic republic.