Occasionally, when I discuss Democracy™ and its liberal proponents who use it as a political cudgel against their opponents, someone chimes in with the standard “we’re a republic, not a democracy!” talking point, as if out of moral obligation to remind everyone, at any opportunity, of this very crucial and overridingly important distinction.
Granted, it is technically true.
Here’s a decent primer, via Merriam-Webster (emphasis added):
It’s true that there is nuance and difference between these words, according to their historical use and etymology: democracy comes from the Greek roots meaning “rule by the people,” and the most basic understanding of the word’s original meaning refers to the direct democracy of ancient Greece.
Republic comes from the Latin roots meaning “public good” or “public affair,” used in ancient Rome to mean simply “state” or “country” with reference to the representative democracy of the Roman Republic. The elected representatives in Congress are a contemporary example of this kind of government.
Because democracy is an abstract name for a system and republic is the more concrete result of that system, democracy is…
Read the full article here