What Is the Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic?
What is the difference between a Democracy and a Republic?
Almost ALL of the social problems in this country are derived from the fact that Americans don't even know what kind of government they have! If you are like most people, you think that the United States is a democracy. If you do, then you are wrong!
Recite the pledge of allegiance. Notice that it says "...and to the republic for which it stands." Now open your copy of the constitution to Article IV, Section 4. (You do have a copy of the constitution, don't you?) It says, "The
United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..."
So what? We live in a republic. What difference does it make?
It makes all the difference in the world. In a democracy the "majority rules" - and the minority loses. A hypothetical example can demonstrate the idea. Pretend that you're a land owner, and that I would like to buy some of your property. You don't want to sell this property because it's been in your family for several generations. In a democracy, I could gather a dozen other land owners together, proposing that we divide your land between us. We will allow you to vote on the proposition, because this IS a democracy after all -- and you will lose thirteen to one.
That's a democracy!
In a republic, nothing can outvote your individual rights! They are unalienable. If the land belongs to you it doesn't matter if I have a hundred friends, a thousand friends, or a hundred thousand friends! YOUR PROPERTY IS
YOUR PROPERTY! It is the government's fiduciary responsibility to protect your rights. If you are in doubt, read your copy of the Declaration of Independence. Right after "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" it says,
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed".
Hypothetical examples are fine for illustrating a concept, but real life examples are much better for
Almost ALL of the social problems in this country are derived from the fact that Americans don't even know what kind of government they have! If you are like most people, you think that the United States is a democracy. If you do, then you are wrong!
Recite the pledge of allegiance. Notice that it says "...and to the republic for which it stands." Now open your copy of the constitution to Article IV, Section 4. (You do have a copy of the constitution, don't you?) It says, "The
United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..."
So what? We live in a republic. What difference does it make?
It makes all the difference in the world. In a democracy the "majority rules" - and the minority loses. A hypothetical example can demonstrate the idea. Pretend that you're a land owner, and that I would like to buy some of your property. You don't want to sell this property because it's been in your family for several generations. In a democracy, I could gather a dozen other land owners together, proposing that we divide your land between us. We will allow you to vote on the proposition, because this IS a democracy after all -- and you will lose thirteen to one.
That's a democracy!
In a republic, nothing can outvote your individual rights! They are unalienable. If the land belongs to you it doesn't matter if I have a hundred friends, a thousand friends, or a hundred thousand friends! YOUR PROPERTY IS
YOUR PROPERTY! It is the government's fiduciary responsibility to protect your rights. If you are in doubt, read your copy of the Declaration of Independence. Right after "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" it says,
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed".
Hypothetical examples are fine for illustrating a concept, but real life examples are much better for