Brilliant explaining! I feel exactly the same but could never articulate it as well as you have. Just one question: I know the U.S. is a constitutional republic but what do you mean when you say democratic republic? I seem to remember they are not the same.
4Freedom- It is definitely not simple. I could have said constitutional republic, perhaps more accurately. The reall difference is between a republic and a true democracy. I am no expert and did not understand (or remember) the difference if, indeed, I really ever knew it. In a democracy, the people elect their leaders directly by a majority vote and the people also vote directly on legislation. In a republic, we elect representatives who, in turn, create and vote on legislation. For our leaders, we do not vote for them directly even though we pull the lever, or whatever, for a candidate. We vote for a slate of electors who then cast their vote for the person we chose. Electors are not bound by our vote but it is exceedingly rare for an elector to vote for someone other than who they are supposed to. My understanding of the electoral college is that it was designed to avoid a "tyranny of the majority" in which states with larger populations would control who is elected. The electoral college forces politicians to campaign in states where they might not otherwise, and gives those states a voice. This avoids the US being ruled by the more densely populated west coast and northeastern states. Whew! I hope I got that reasonably right.
Thanks. I tried to find the definition I remembered but couldn’t. I did find this at Quora.com and it made me smile.
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Kevin Baker
Electrical Engineer (1996–present)Author has 5.1K answers and 13.1M answer views4y
Originally Answered: In layman’s terms, what is the difference between a democracy and a Constitutional Republic. I keep hearing these terms about the US, but need some clarification on what they mean.?
“Officially the U.S. is a Representative Constitutional Republic. But let me repeat something to help illustrate the problem:
Democracy: Five wolves and four sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
Representative Democracy: Five thousand wolves and four thousand sheep elect five wolves and four sheep to decide what’s for dinner.
Representative Constitutional Republic: Pretty much the same as Representative Democracy, but there’s a written Constitution that says “Lamb cannot be for dinner.” But the Supreme Court votes - five wolves to four sheep - that “mutton” is not the same as “lamb.”
There are essentially no real limits on any form of government. Except well armed sheep contesting the vote.”
It makes me sad that we have to write letters like these. In our current political climate, however, they are increasingly necessary. At the very least, it forces us to articulate exactly what we believe, so that's a plus. :(
I appreciate what you wrote and wish we could all be as mature in our interactions. The rhetoric has everyone's emotions (or maybe juat mine) so wrapped up in this it's difficult to take a deep breath and say nothing. I just started a book by Stephen King (one of my favorite authors!) and I had to abandon ship! There were so many political and C19 references I couldn't subject myself to it. I read books to escape reality not relive it. I'd read a political book if I wanted to delve deeper. I don't mind people having differing opinions/views but don't sell it to me under false pretenses.
Brilliant explaining! I feel exactly the same but could never articulate it as well as you have. Just one question: I know the U.S. is a constitutional republic but what do you mean when you say democratic republic? I seem to remember they are not the same.
4Freedom- It is definitely not simple. I could have said constitutional republic, perhaps more accurately. The reall difference is between a republic and a true democracy. I am no expert and did not understand (or remember) the difference if, indeed, I really ever knew it. In a democracy, the people elect their leaders directly by a majority vote and the people also vote directly on legislation. In a republic, we elect representatives who, in turn, create and vote on legislation. For our leaders, we do not vote for them directly even though we pull the lever, or whatever, for a candidate. We vote for a slate of electors who then cast their vote for the person we chose. Electors are not bound by our vote but it is exceedingly rare for an elector to vote for someone other than who they are supposed to. My understanding of the electoral college is that it was designed to avoid a "tyranny of the majority" in which states with larger populations would control who is elected. The electoral college forces politicians to campaign in states where they might not otherwise, and gives those states a voice. This avoids the US being ruled by the more densely populated west coast and northeastern states. Whew! I hope I got that reasonably right.
Thanks. I tried to find the definition I remembered but couldn’t. I did find this at Quora.com and it made me smile.
Profile photo for Kevin Baker
Kevin Baker
Electrical Engineer (1996–present)Author has 5.1K answers and 13.1M answer views4y
Originally Answered: In layman’s terms, what is the difference between a democracy and a Constitutional Republic. I keep hearing these terms about the US, but need some clarification on what they mean.?
“Officially the U.S. is a Representative Constitutional Republic. But let me repeat something to help illustrate the problem:
Democracy: Five wolves and four sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
Representative Democracy: Five thousand wolves and four thousand sheep elect five wolves and four sheep to decide what’s for dinner.
Representative Constitutional Republic: Pretty much the same as Representative Democracy, but there’s a written Constitution that says “Lamb cannot be for dinner.” But the Supreme Court votes - five wolves to four sheep - that “mutton” is not the same as “lamb.”
There are essentially no real limits on any form of government. Except well armed sheep contesting the vote.”
It makes me sad that we have to write letters like these. In our current political climate, however, they are increasingly necessary. At the very least, it forces us to articulate exactly what we believe, so that's a plus. :(
I appreciate what you wrote and wish we could all be as mature in our interactions. The rhetoric has everyone's emotions (or maybe juat mine) so wrapped up in this it's difficult to take a deep breath and say nothing. I just started a book by Stephen King (one of my favorite authors!) and I had to abandon ship! There were so many political and C19 references I couldn't subject myself to it. I read books to escape reality not relive it. I'd read a political book if I wanted to delve deeper. I don't mind people having differing opinions/views but don't sell it to me under false pretenses.