[Antoninus]

So these countries are no longer democratic republics but medical despotates at this point.

That's where we're headed as well. It was a nice run we had.

[Olog-hai]

They’re still democratic republics in the context of Engels’ The Principles of Communism and of Woodrow Wilson’s Socialism and Democracy.

“What will be the course of this revolution? Above all, it will establish a democratic constitution, and through this, the direct or indirect dominance of the proletariat. …”

“(I)t is very clear that in fundamental theory, socialism and democracy are almost, if not quite, one and the same. They both rest at bottom upon the absolute right of the community to determine its own destiny and that of its members. Men as communities are supreme over men as individuals. …”

Whenever you hear the phrase “democratic republic” uttered by the left, they always mean socialism.