I’m almost 50. I said the pledge of allegiance every day. Our education system is so messed up that they didn’t bother to explain what it meant.
Hell, I’m old enough that I also sang ‘Zippity Doo Dah ‘ every day also. Plus, we had the strap in school. Teachers and principals taking their anger out on 10 years olds. That was weird.
In: 27
The way I think of it is:
A democracy is a system where people decide the way their country is run, rather than a system where the decisions are made by the nobility or royalty. If the people decide what to do in a big consensus or meeting, that would be direct or pure democracy.
Because most nations are WAY too big for every person to meet together, the people elect representatives to advocate for them in the government. That system is a Republic instead of direct democracy.
In a pure or direct democracy, laws are made directly by popular vote. This is rare today, although it still exists in Lichtenstein, some parts of Switzerland, and some towns in New England. Many countries also have a system for creating referendums on specific issues that are then decided by a popular vote.
Most of today’s democracies are representative democracies, meaning that democratically elected officials pass and enforce laws. This is also known as a republic.
That said, not all republics are perfectly democratic. The United States is not perfectly democratic, for example, because each state elects two Senators no matter what the population of the state might be.
Voter suppression might make a state or country even less democratic. If only property owners or men or whites can vote, those restrictions make the republic less democratic.
Recently many Republicans in the U.S. have justified voter suppression by saying the U.S. is a republic and not a democracy. This repudiation of democratic principles is very strange. While it’s true that the U.S. has never been a perfect democracy, the trend has been for it to grow more democratic rather than less. But now it seems some Republicans are openly hoping to reverse that trend, and make it less democratic.
In a pure or direct democracy, laws are made directly by popular vote. This is rare today, although it still exists in Lichtenstein, some parts of Switzerland, and some towns in New England. Many countries also have a system for creating referendums on specific issues that are then decided by a popular vote.
Most of today’s democracies are representative democracies, meaning that democratically elected officials pass and enforce laws. This is also known as a republic.
That said, not all republics are perfectly democratic. The United States is not perfectly democratic, for example, because each state elects two Senators no matter what the population of the state might be.
Voter suppression might make a state or country even less democratic. If only property owners or men or whites can vote, those restrictions make the republic less democratic.
Recently many Republicans in the U.S. have justified voter suppression by saying the U.S. is a republic and not a democracy. This repudiation of democratic principles is very strange. While it’s true that the U.S. has never been a perfect democracy, the trend has been for it to grow more democratic rather than less. But now it seems some Republicans are openly hoping to reverse that trend, and make it less democratic.
The way I think of it is:
A democracy is a system where people decide the way their country is run, rather than a system where the decisions are made by the nobility or royalty. If the people decide what to do in a big consensus or meeting, that would be direct or pure democracy.
Because most nations are WAY too big for every person to meet together, the people elect representatives to advocate for them in the government. That system is a Republic instead of direct democracy.
In a pure or direct democracy, laws are made directly by popular vote. This is rare today, although it still exists in Lichtenstein, some parts of Switzerland, and some towns in New England. Many countries also have a system for creating referendums on specific issues that are then decided by a popular vote.
Most of today’s democracies are representative democracies, meaning that democratically elected officials pass and enforce laws. This is also known as a republic.
That said, not all republics are perfectly democratic. The United States is not perfectly democratic, for example, because each state elects two Senators no matter what the population of the state might be.
Voter suppression might make a state or country even less democratic. If only property owners or men or whites can vote, those restrictions make the republic less democratic.
Recently many Republicans in the U.S. have justified voter suppression by saying the U.S. is a republic and not a democracy. This repudiation of democratic principles is very strange. While it’s true that the U.S. has never been a perfect democracy, the trend has been for it to grow more democratic rather than less. But now it seems some Republicans are openly hoping to reverse that trend, and make it less democratic.
In a republic offices are not inherited and instead established through a powerful body that can differ. Most republics are also democracies so the body is the demos e.g. the people. This is also the case for the US, so it is a democracy.
Though there are other forms of republic like aristocratic republic’s where only the nobles hold the power to establish offices. A somewhat famous example of this would be old Venice, where the powerful families held council and voted on their ruler.
In a republic offices are not inherited and instead established through a powerful body that can differ. Most republics are also democracies so the body is the demos e.g. the people. This is also the case for the US, so it is a democracy.
Though there are other forms of republic like aristocratic republic’s where only the nobles hold the power to establish offices. A somewhat famous example of this would be old Venice, where the powerful families held council and voted on their ruler.
In a republic offices are not inherited and instead established through a powerful body that can differ. Most republics are also democracies so the body is the demos e.g. the people. This is also the case for the US, so it is a democracy.
Though there are other forms of republic like aristocratic republic’s where only the nobles hold the power to establish offices. A somewhat famous example of this would be old Venice, where the powerful families held council and voted on their ruler.
A republic has two features.
a. It has a body of representatives (two in the US, the Senate and the House) which has the legislative power (the power to make laws).
b. It has a head of state that’s not a king.
Note that these representatives do not have to be elected by the people (unlike a democracy), but can be there as representatives of The Party (as they are in China, a one-party state) or the representatives of wealthy and prominent families (such as the medieval and renaissance merchant republics).
A republic has two features.
a. It has a body of representatives (two in the US, the Senate and the House) which has the legislative power (the power to make laws).
b. It has a head of state that’s not a king.
Note that these representatives do not have to be elected by the people (unlike a democracy), but can be there as representatives of The Party (as they are in China, a one-party state) or the representatives of wealthy and prominent families (such as the medieval and renaissance merchant republics).
Latest Answers