HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A democratic republic is a form of government operating on principles adopted from a republic and a democracy. As a cross between two exceedingly similar systems, democratic republics may function on principles shared by both republics and democracies. While not all democracies are republics (
constitutional monarchies A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
) and not all republics are democracies, common definitions of the terms ''democracy'' and ''republic'' often feature overlapping concerns, suggesting that many democracies function as republics, and many republics operate on democratic principles, as shown by these definitions from the '' Oxford English Dictionary'': * ''Republic'': "A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch." * ''Democracy'': "A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives."
Eugene Volokh Eugene Volokh (; born February 29, 1968 as Yevhen Volodymyrovych Volokh ( uk, Євге́н Володимирович Волох)) is an American legal scholar known for his scholarship in American constitutional law and libertarianism as well as ...
of the
UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...
notes that the United States exemplifies the varied nature of a constitutional republica country where some decisions (often local) are made by direct democratic processes, while others (often federal) are made by democratically elected representatives. As with many large systems, US governance is incompletely described by any single term. It also employs the concept, for instance, of a
constitutional republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
in which a court system is involved in matters of jurisprudence. However, these republics were, indeed, democratic republics that used Soviet democracy, a complicated form of indirect democracy. As with other democracies, not all persons in a democratic republic are necessarily citizens, and not all citizens are necessarily entitled to vote. Suffrage is commonly restricted by criteria such as voting age and sometimes by
felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
or imprisonment status.


History

Historically, some inconsistency around the term is frequent.


United States

Prior to the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
in what is now the United States—and before the coming of age of the "crowned republics" of
constitutional monarchies A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
in the U.K. and other European countries—"democracy" and "republic" were "used more or less interchangeably", and the concepts associated with representative democracy (and hence with a democratic republic) are suggested by John Adams (writing in 1784):


Asia

The Republic of China ( Taiwan) claims to be the oldest of Asia's democratic republics, though its recent history of democratic process is largely linked only to Taiwan.


Africa

Likewise, Africa's oldest democratic republic, Liberia (formed in 1822), has had its political stability rocked by periodic violence and coups.


Global use of the term

Starting in the 20th century after World War II, many countries used the term "democratic republic" in their official names—most of which were Marxist-Leninist, or socialist, one-party states—that did not allow political opposition, free press or other democratic norms and institutions. These include states no longer in existence or who have changed their governmental systems and official names, (almost all Marxist-Leninist):
the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany), the Somali Democratic Republic, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam), the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (aka South Yemen), the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...
and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. States which (as of 2022) use the term "Democratic Republic" in their official names also include many that do not hold free elections and have been rated as "undemocratic" or "unfree" by organizations that gave such ratings.
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, North Korea, Laos, and Nepal, do not hold free elections and are rated as undemocratic " hybrid regimes" or "
authoritarian regime Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic ...
s" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, and "not free" by (the U.S.-based, U.S.-government-funded non-governmental organization) Freedom House. In addition there are a few countries which use the term "Democratic Republic" in the name and have a good track of holding free or relatively free general elections and were rated "flawed democracy" or "full democracy" in the Democracy Index, such as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe and the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.


See also

* Democracy * Republic * Federal republic *
People's republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with soviet republics, socialist states following people's democracy, sovereign states with a democratic- ...
* Liberal democracy * Indices of freedom


References

{{reflist Republic Republic