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Historically and in political science literature, "republic" IS synonymous with "representative democracy". In the 20th century autocratic/oligarchical/fascist

by kbutler 12y ago

Historically and in political science literature, "republic" IS synonymous with "representative democracy". In the 20th century autocratic/oligarchical/fascist states adopted "Republic" to sound democratic, and that use is becoming more common. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/republic http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_eng... A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2011/09/republic-or-representative-democracy.html http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2011/09/republic-or-repr... we regard the terms “republic” and “representative democracy” as being interchangeable, as does the political science literature. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/163158?redirectedFrom=republic#eid http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/163158?redirectedFrom=republic... a. A state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; spec. a state without a monarchy. Also: a government, or system of government, of such a state; a period of government of this type.The term is often (esp. in the 18th and 19th centuries) taken to imply a state with a democratic or representative constitution and without a hereditary nobility, but more recently it has also been used of autocratic or dictatorial states not ruled by a monarch. It is now chiefly used to denote any non-monarchical state headed by an elected or appointed president.

toyg 12y ago
Note how all those definitions are not antithetical to direct democracy, which is the concept I was objecting to and something that only Americans keep repeating -- note how the only source you link with a whiff of support for such dichotomy is American and explicitly covers only "the American republic" (and basically says "yeah we know the terminology is imprecise, but whatever"...). The word "republic" was coined by Romans, whose political system was a mixture of direct, representative, and oligarchic rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_elements_of_Roman_Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_elements_of_Roman_R... Were they not living in a "republic", despite inventing the name itself? "Representative democracy" and "republic" have often been used as synonyms to indicate the absence of monarchical or divine intervention in the choice of leaders, not to exclude direct intervention by the people, which is something only Americans say it does not belong in a republic, for whatever reason.

by kbutler 12y ago

toyg 12y ago

Note how all those definitions are not antithetical to direct democracy, which is the concept I was objecting to and something that only Americans keep repeating -- note how the only source you link with a whiff of support for such dichotomy is American and explicitly covers only "the American republic" (and basically says "yeah we know the terminology is imprecise, but whatever"...). The word "republic" was coined by Romans, whose political system was a mixture of direct, representative, and oligarchic rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_elements_of_Roman_Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_elements_of_Roman_R... Were they not living in a "republic", despite inventing the name itself? "Representative democracy" and "republic" have often been used as synonyms to indicate the absence of monarchical or divine intervention in the choice of leaders, not to exclude direct intervention by the people, which is something only Americans say it does not belong in a republic, for whatever reason.