Lol I know you dont see the irony of you of all people calling others condescending. .
Obviously not a serious thread by the way you refer to the posters you want to engage, its just so you can disagree, argue and dare I say it the T word.
The bold = pretty much any poster on this board. Exactly who on this board does NOT consider himself the smartest person in the room.
Republic is pretty much any system that is NOT a monarchy and has an elected head of state and elected representatives of any sort, that is responsible to the whole body of the people.
Democracy is wider and can encompass representative republics such as the United States, as well as direct democracies.
The United States is both a Republic and a Democracy. The terms are complementary, not exclusive.
James Madison equated Republicanism and Representative Democracy and I agree with him.
In a republic we elect politicians to represent us in government. In a democracy everyone votes on every issue. I’m not sure a true democracy actually exists anywhere in the world?
I’m not the sharpest political tool in the shed, but I’ll try.
Democracy: Power is concentrated in the people as a whole with no limitations. They determine both the ruling class and the societal rules. In this society, the proletariat rules through weight of numbers.
Republic: Power is concentrated in something beyond the people, usually a constitution that tries to balance the inherent conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeois into something that is materially acceptable for both factions.
Differences: Democracy is inherently prone to tyranny of the majority since they have nothing limiting them. In a Republic, the system attempts to maintain a balance but it can be coopeted by an oligarchy of like minded powerful people.