Editor, Times-Union:
Apparently there are lots of people whose shorts are all in a knot because they insist that the United States is not a democracy, and they are tired of politicians who proclaim we are in danger of losing that democracy. They insist we are a republic! After all, it says so in our Pledge of Allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag ... and to the republic for which it stands ...” Since all who consider themselves the most patriotic Americans seem to be the loudest deniers of our so-called democracy, maybe it is time to do a little digging to find the truth in all of this questionably important distinction of terms.
The United States actually practices two kinds of democracy: direct democracy which is practiced when voters use ballots to directly enact, change, or repeal laws themselves. We citizens also use our voting powers to elect representatives who in turn enact, change or repeal laws on our behalf. That is called representative democracy. Even though you will not find the term “democracy” in our Constitution, such men as John Adams, Noah Webster, Thomas Jefferson, Justice James Wilson, and Chief Justice John Marshall all used the term. They understood representative democracy — the American Variety — to be democracy all the same. (Eugene Volokh, Washington Post)
But wait. There’s more. Yes, the U.S. is also a republic because our country’s supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives — who exercise political power — and we have an elected president rather than a monarch. (Oxford Dictionary) Bottom line: a republic has the same meaning as a representative democracy. If you really want to get deep into this discussion, you will find other terms worth studying such as “federal constitutional representative democracy” and “federal constitutional republic.”
Since most readers have stopped reading at this point, I will close by saying that it really does not matter which term you choose to use. The United States is both a democracy and a republic. What really matters is that our energy can be much better spent in working to unite our citizens and fix our democracy/republic so that all of us can be truly represented equally. Most of all, we must remember that America is a country with a government of the people ruled by the people for the people — all people. Too often it is the elected representatives who often ignore those people when instead they pursue their own power, their own personal agendas and ideologies and not the wishes dictated by the people. That leads to a flawed or broken democracy/republic. I am not sure what that might be called, but it would certainly beg the question: What are we?
Jeanne Schutz
Winona Lake, via email