Is the United States a Republic or a Democracy?
This
non-issue is sometimes raised by those on the right--it was a favorite
claim of the John Birch Society that America is "a republic, not a
democracy," meaning the people should not rule. The same dichotomy is
sometimes claimed on the Left, but as a
complaint that the United States is not actually a direct democracy, or
that at its founding the franchise was not universal. You will be
hearing the claim coming from the Right in the days ahead -- be ready
for it. Democracy and Republicanism are not contraries or mutually
exclusive -- the United States is a republic (there is no monarch) and a representative
democracy (despite the worries of the founders about the hazards of Democracy). Yes, the democracy is imperfect--how could it not be?--and it
could be improved. But it's not one or the other, it's both.
see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/13/is-the-united-states-of-america-a-republic-or-a-democracy/?
See also Abraham Lincoln, The Lyceum Address (1838)
Tocqueville, Democracy in America.
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