Why is the media always saying we are a democracy when we are actually a republic?

And it is already happening. We swayed from the Constitution long ago, and look what’s happening.

We aren’t either.
We’re a Democratic Republic.

Because to the majority of the populace, the two terms have been bandied about together so much for the last few hundred years, that they’re practically synonymous for most of us.

the problem is no one wants to rock the boat, so though they claim change for the masses, do not want to obstuct the belief of those who were previously in power as they had many folllowers

@wilbert welcome to Fluther. Lurve.

We are a Republic because we elect Representatives to govern, and we can also use the ballot to pass our own laws.

democracy is a blanket term that covers both direct democracy, like in ancient greece, and indirect democracy, like most of today’s western nations have, including republics.

They just like to mess with our minds?

I think they don’t know the difference, assume they are the same, and assume their audience doesn’t know the difference, either.

@Sarcasm – are we also a Republican Democracy?

Here from my crazy blogger who happens to hit the bulls eye often.
“The answer is a resounding NO!!! Nothing in the Constitution could ever be interpreted in any manner that would in any way allow the conversion of our quasi-capitalist republic into a Marxist-fascistic police state, which is the last thing our Founding Fathers had in mind. How can our government simply hand over fiat money created out of thin air, which in itself totally violates the provisions in our Constitution dealing with the issuance of money, to whoever they deem to be too-big-to-fail?”

cuz the media sucks!

Aren’t the two terms mutually exclusive? Not all democracies are republics and some republics are definitely not democratic.

NO

we are a:

Constitutional Democratic Republic

Because we are a democratic republic, and the media, like most Americans are lazy about such things.

You are a republic and you are a democracy. The terms are mutually exclusive, notwithstanding the slackness of modern usage. A republic is ruled by an oligarchy, that is, a class of people chosen by means other than simple succession by birth. A democracy is a society in which the government is freely chosen by its members. You are both. There are democracies which are not republics – remember the UK, Norway, etc. And there are so many republics which are not democracies – China and Northern Korea come to mind.

@bea2345 Sorry, you are wrong. A republic is a state that is ruled by laws. A democracy has elected representatives. In the US we elect representatives and they make the laws. In a true democracy we’d be voting every day over how long the traffic light should stay red and whether the garbage man deserves a raise…. Rather than do that we elect representatives who take care of hat stuff for us.

No, @Rude_Bear – a republic is essentially a state in which the power is vested in an elite chosen by means other than by inheritance or birth. Your definition is James Madison’s, and is not universal. In the case of the United States, the rulers are chosen by adult suffrage, which makes you a democratic republic. Of course, no system is perfect, but whose is?

@bea2345 republic
Definition
re·pub·lic[ ri púbblik ]
re·pub·lics Plural
NOUN
1.
political system with elected representatives: a political system or form of government in which people elect representatives to exercise power for them
2.
state with elected representatives: a country or other political unit whose government or political system is that of a republic
3.
unit within larger country: a constituent political and territorial unit of a national federation or union
4.
group with collective interests: a group of people who are considered to be equals and who have a collective interest, objective, or vocation ( formal )
“the republic of letters”

Dear @Rude_Bear – a political system or form of government in which people elect representatives to exercise power for them: now that’s a democracy. Cuba has elected representatives – so does China – but by no stretch of imagination can either be called a democracy. On the other hand, Japan is a democracy but it has a monarchy: so do Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark – they are not republics, they are constitutional monarchies, as are Jamaica, Barbados and Canada.

What we have here is a difference of usage.

@bea2345 : not worth continuing this thread.

@Rude_Bear – Why not? I learned my definitions in a course on political science in my first year at university. It is interesting to me that the meaning of republic, learned during an undergraduate course in political science, should be so different from yours.

@Darbio16

Um… wishful thinking? : )