A Republic, if we can keep it. Many people incorrectly believe we are a Democracy or a democratic Republic because of the Democratic Party’s prowess and perseverance in gradually redefining our form of government. Because of their successful public relations campaign for name recognition, many people have been misled, and the words “democracy” and “democratic” have even pervaded some dictionaries and writings. Some people even espouse that “voting” equals “democracy.” I maintain it is inaccurate when used to describe voting in a Republic. It is a contradiction in terms and just more propaganda. If we lived in a Democracy, it would be fine. “Freedom to vote” or “freedom of choice” or just “freedom” would be more appropriate here. In common parlance: This balony has to stop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I did some research. The Federalist Papers mentions “republic/republican” 205 times, all favorably. It mentions “democracy” 28 times, all in negative contexts. It does not mention “democratic republic” or “representative democracy.” The word “democratic” is mentioned six times: Once in a neutral context and five times in negative contexts. “Democracy,” or any derivative thereof, is not mentioned in the Constitution, its Bill of Rights, or any of its other 17 Amendments. In fact, “Democracy,” or any derivative thereof, is not mentioned in any of our founding documents or The Declaration of Independence. If some people choose to ignore all this and call our form of government by another name, that’s their prerogative, but, of course, they'd be wrong. After all, it's a free country. Or is it? P.S. If some of my numbers are a little bit off in my comments about the Federalist Papers, please excuse it. Compiling them was an ordeal.
It feels a little arrogant to assume that the nature of US politics controls the meaning of words in the English language. The fact is that the words democracy and democratic have always have the same fundamental meanings. The practical details, specifics and common use have inevitably shifted as the common examples in the world have changed and developed. It's like the word "ship" used to mean a wooden vessel with sails and now typically refers to a metal vessel with engines but the fundamental meaning of "ship" hasn't changed. Democracy means the people having direct or indirect control over government, which is typically done via voting. Whether that is under a republican (i.e. with an elected head of state) structure or not doesn't automatically make any difference. You still have the people choosing their representatives to form the various levels of government. What I really don't understand here is why you object to your nation and government being called democratic? Is it really just because one of your political parties happens to use that term in their name? The form of a government certainly isn't based on word-counts. Your nation has changed significantly since it was formed, as has the wider political context around the world. America wasn't really democratic at that time because most citizens weren't allowed to vote (as was the situation in many other nations at the time which held any kind of elections). That has significantly changed over the years so that now, almost all adult citizens can vote and therefore have their say on the formation of your government. That is democratic.
Nobody "incorrectly" believes that. We ARE a Democracy only because we are not a dictatorship (though Trump tried to change that). And we are a Republic because we are NOT a monarchy. Fox's war on Democracy has managed to convince a handful of their gullible audience to the contrary. But it's absolute nonsense!
