Oy... I'm trying to help my best friend write a
political science report. She has to state why
we're a republic, democracy or other. It's not
going so well... as she IS going to college in
VT. I don't want to help her to a failing grade.
Excellent place for historical documents.
US constitution. Article 4, sec 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.
As for the exact definitions:
Main Entry: re·pub·lic
Function: noun
1 : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president; also : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government
2 : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law; also : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government
Main Entry: de·moc·ra·cy
Pronunciation: di-'mä-kr&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -cies
1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2 : a political unit that has a democratic government —dem·o·crat·ic /"de-m&-'kra-tik/ adjective —dem·o·crat·i·cal·ly adverb
The major difference being in limitations of power. In a Republic, government is supposed to by limited by a Constitution, or contract, whereby the People cede a limited amount of power to the State. In a Democracy, there is generally no such stricture and you are at the whim of the majority. Not even a supermajority in most cases, but a simple majority.
I actually approve more of the later, but ONLY in conjuntion with a Unanimous Consent Doctrine. 90% or better must agree on an action or that action is not put in force. This guts the "mobocracy" of simple majority democracies.
Any of that help?