A question for all the Americans on this board
 

:glugglug

A republic...more accurately, and what they taught us in high school, a democratic republic.

"and to the republic for which it stands"


We've been programmed since birth to say/think that.

How about another option:

None of the above

A democratic republic is both a democracy and a republic. The term "republic" can include democracies, while the term "democracy" can include republics.
Since the USA doesn't have a monarch as the head of state and the supreme power lies in the votes of a body of citizens, it's a republic, since it uses a democratic system but also has a constitution guaranteeing essential liberties, it's a liberal democracy, and since it uses a model of representation rather than direct participation, it's also a representative democracy.

We are a republic with an electoral college.

Here is some defenitions for the confused
Democracy
Republic

We the people.....Have been programmed since birth to say and think a lot of things.

Ok....I didn't exactly come from one of the US's finer secondary education systems, so they could have been wrong.
Although what they meant in saying "democratic republic" was that the people voted (as in democracy) for a leader (republic). :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracy

Well, that's pretty much what is the case. A democratic republic is like a female stripper... she's both a woman and a stripper, not either/or.

The votes so far kinda scare me. Democracy needs voters to be educated to be effective.

Indirect democracy is how it was defined when I was younger which seems to fit the defintion of a Republic. I never could understand that destinction.

a republic

:glugglug

A republic (from the Latin "res publica", or "thing of the people") is a state not governed by a monarch but by a collective of people. Often such a collective will be elected democratically, but that isn't necessarily the case. An oligarchic republic, for instance, is also possible.

A representative - or indirect - democracy is a form of democracy in which voters elect people to govern the country. Many representative democracies are republics, but it isn't necessary. There are also monarchies which are representative democracies.

They are two completely different things, which happen to go together often.

exactly what I'm sayin' man :thumbsup

If this is the question, the answer is :thumbsup

I would call it an oligarky.

When Jeb Bush is president you will know what I mean.

I'm Kanadain.

quasi represented democracy with socialists overtones at federal level. Go lower in Government and the wierder it gets.

I think socialist democracy where the majority is the minority at both the controlling levels and the voting levels.

Since Bush took over I think we need to call it a clusterfuck!

Republic

A dictatorship, ruled by the iron fist of political agendas and secret handshakes.

:1orglaugh

A liberal democracy

Do we actually have to have a vote on this??

Don't we know?? :1orglaugh

Or even what it may be "claimed to be"??

OK.. Will wait till the votes are in so we can spread the word to other nations :-)

Looking at the votes, apparently not.