Republic vs. Democracy What Is the Difference

In both a republic and a democracy, citizens are empowered to participate in a representational political system. They elect  people to represent and protect their interests in how the government functions. Key Takeaways: Republic vs. Democracy Republics and democracies both provide a political system in which citizens are represented by elected officials who are sworn to protect their interests.In a pure democracy, laws are made directly by the voting majority leaving the rights of the minority largely unprotected.In a republic, laws are made by representatives chosen the people and must comply with a constitution that specifically protects the rights of the minority from the will of the majority.The United States, while basically a republic, is best described as a â€Å"representative democracy.†Ã‚  Ã‚   In a republic, an official set of fundamental laws, like the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, prohibits the government from limiting or taking away certain â€Å"inalienable† rights of the people, even if that government was freely chosen by a majority of the people. In a pure democracy, the voting majority has almost limitless power over the minority.   The United States, like most modern nations, is neither a pure republic nor a pure democracy. Instead, it is  a hybrid democratic republic. The main difference between a democracy and a republic is the extent to which the people control the process of making laws under each form of government. Pure Democracy Republic Power Held By The population as a whole Individual citizens Making Laws A voting majority has almost unlimited power to make laws. Minorities have few protections from the will of the majority. The people elect representatives to make laws according to the constraints of a constitution. Ruled By The majority. Laws made by elected representatives of the people. Protection of Rights Rights can be overridden by the will of the majority. A constitution protects the rights of all people from the will of the majority. Early Examples Athenian democracy in Greece (500 BCE) The Roman Republic (509 BCE) Even when the delegates of the United States Constitutional Convention debated the question in 1787, the exact meanings of the terms republic and democracy remained unsettled. At the time, there was no term for a representative form of government created â€Å"by the people† rather than by a king. In addition, American colonists used the terms democracy and republic more or less interchangeably, as remains common today. In Britain, the absolute monarchy was giving way to a full-fledged parliamentary government. Had the Constitutional Convention been held two generations later, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, having been able to read the new constitution of Britain, might have decided that the British system with an expanded electoral system might allow America to meet its full potential for democracy. Thus, the U.S. might well have a parliament rather than a Congress today. Founding Father James Madison may have best described the difference between a democracy and a republic: â€Å"It [the difference] is that in a democracy, the people meet and exercise the government in person: in a republic, they assemble and administer it by their representatives and agents. A democracy, consequently, must be confined to a small spot. A republic may be extended over a large region.† The fact that the Founders intended that the United States should function as a representative democracy, rather than a pure democracy is illustrated in Alexander Hamilton’s letter of May 19, 1777, to Gouverneur Morris. â€Å"But a representative democracy, where the right of election is well secured and regulated the exercise of the legislative, executive and judiciary authorities, is vested in select persons, chosen really and not nominally by the people, will in my opinion be most likely to be happy, regular and durable.† The Concept of a Democracy In a pure democracy, all citizens who are eligible to vote take an equal part in the process of making laws that govern them. In a pure or â€Å"direct† democracy, the citizens as a whole have the power to make all laws directly at the ballot box. Today, some U.S. states empower their citizens to make state laws through a form of direct democracy known as the ballot initiative. Put simply, in a pure democracy, the majority truly does rule and the minority has little or no power. The concept of democracy can be traced back to around 500 BCE in Athens, Greece. Athenian democracy was a true direct democracy, or â€Å"mobocracy,† under which the public voted on every law, with the majority having almost total control over rights and freedoms. The Concept of a Republic In a republic, the people elect representatives  to make the laws and an executive to enforce those laws.  Ã‚  While the majority still rules in the selection of representatives, an official charter lists and protects certain inalienable rights, thus protecting the minority from the arbitrary political whims of the majority. In this sense, republics like the United States function as â€Å"representative democracies.† In the U.S.,  senators and representatives are the elected lawmakers, the president  is the elected executive, and the Constitution is the official charter. Perhaps as a natural outgrowth of Athenian democracy, the first documented representative democracy appeared around 509 BCE in the form of the Roman Republic. While the Roman Republic’s constitution was mostly unwritten and enforced by custom, it outlined a system of checks and balances between the different branches of government. This concept of separate governmental powers remains a feature of almost all modern republics. Is the United States a Republic or a Democracy? The following statement is often used to define the United States system of government: The United States is a republic, not a democracy.† This statement suggests that the concepts and characteristics of republics and democracies can never coexist in a single form of government. However, this is rarely the case. As in the United States, most republics function as blended â€Å"representational democracies† featuring a democracy’s political powers of the majority tempered by a republic’s system of checks and balances enforced by a constitution that protects the minority from the majority. To say that the United States is strictly a democracy suggests that the minority is completely unprotected from the will of the majority, which is not correct. Republics and Constitutions As a republic’s most unique feature, a constitution enables it to protect the minority from the majority by interpreting and, if necessary, overturning laws made by the elected representatives of the people. In the United States, the Constitution assigns this function to the U.S. Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. For example, in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared all state laws establishing separate racially segregated public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.  Ã‚   In its 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling, the Supreme Court overturned all remaining state laws banning interracial marriages and relationships. More recently, in the controversial Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that federal election laws prohibiting corporations from contributing to political campaigns violated the corporations’ constitutional rights of free speech under the First Amendment. The constitutionally-granted power of the judicial branch to overturn laws made by the legislative branch illustrates the unique ability of a republic’s rule of law to protect the minority from a pure democracy’s rule of the masses. References Definition of Republic. Dictionary.com. â€Å"a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.†Definition of Democracy. Dictionary.com. â€Å"government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.†Woodburn, James Albert. â€Å"The American Republic and Its Government: An Analysis of the Government of the United States.† G. P. Putnam, 1903Peacock, Anthony Arthur (2010-01-01). â€Å"Freedom and the Rule of Law.† Rowman Littlefield. ISBN 9780739136188.Founders Online. â€Å"From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris.† 19 May 1777.

Specifics of Childrens Understanding of the Earth Free Essay Example, 1750 words

In addition to the biological and environmental factors affecting child development, their age is the manner in which questions of the study are posed. The exact nature of questions as they are presented to a child may have an effect on how that child perceives the physical phenomenon and how they are then able to apply conceptual ideas to explain that phenomenon. One of the most basic divisions on how questions are posed to study participants is whether the question is open ended or close ended. Either type of question has its advantages and disadvantages and may have an effect on how the child s responses are formulated and rated. While one might anticipate that open-ended questions would allow the child the greatest leeway in their answers and offer the greatest insight into the participant s level of scientific consistency, this is not always the case. For example, a recently composed questionnaire was created that contained 40 open ended questions. This survey was easy to create and implement, but experienced difficulties once the participants had completed it. In particular, the respondents provided a large amount of extraneous information that was difficult and time-consuming for the researchers to sift through and the responses themselves were often difficult to quantify for comparison (Henning, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Specifics of Childrens' Understanding of the Earth or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now These issues illustrate how, while they allow participants greater leeway in providing information to the facilitator, open-ended questions can prove problematic in analysis and quantification once the data has been collected, problematic for scientific research. In turn, forced-choice or close ended questions are nearly the opposite of open ended questions in their advantages and disadvantages. The first significant difference is that these questions can be more difficult and time consuming to write than their open ended cousins. Care must be given to the selection of choices offered by each question, specifically to not clutter the selection with highly unlikely options, to arrange the choices in an appropriate manner that does not unduly influence the selection process, and to include all commonly selected choices as options.

The Child Molestation Act Of Pederasty - 969 Words

In Greece, homosexuality became common within their culture; which with this socially accepted involvement, some could say, provided the groundwork for the child molestation act of pederasty. It appears the Greek’s institutionalized sodomy to a new level for children that involved predominantly upper-class men in the 7th century B.C.; shamefully, boosted with pride concerning this ‘training system as their civil duty.’ They professed to be giving needed guidance to young boys (eromenos); who became effectively courted by older men (the erastes or ‘lover’). The Greeks became flamboyant with their exploitation of adolescents and cunningly gave personal attention to young boys to produce sexual cooperation. Distinctly, there existed a real challenge between Greek homosexuals, involving who would become the ‘dominating partner;’ (which transpires as an extreme shame if you were the lesser); therefore, an infinite number of repugnant circu mstances arose, while using children’s passiveness to conceal the men’s perverted actions. Although, people exalt ancient philosophers for their intelligence and wisdom; perversely Plato proudly declares, â€Å"Pederasty, philosophy, and nude sports as the three things that set the Hellenes (Greeks) apart from the barbarians† (Symposium, 182b). Suitably, being compared to barbarians speaks for itself. Plato explains pederasty two years before his death, stating, â€Å"†¦man is far more beautiful, more excellent, nearer to perfection than woman;†Show MoreRelatedThe Child Molestation Act Of Pederasty975 Words   |  4 Pages In the earliest of time in Greece, homosexuality became common within the civilization; which with this socially accepted involvement, some could say, provided the groundwork for the child molestation act of pederasty. Conversely, it appears the Greek’s institutionalized sodomy to a new level for children that involved predominantly upper-class men in the 7th century B.C.; shamefully, boosted with pride concerning this ‘training system as their civil duty.’ They professed to be giving needed

Trial By Fire by Journey free essay sample

Journey: Trial By Fire Journey was started in 1973. Their lead singers name was Steve Perry. He has a soft calm voice in the album â€Å"Trial By Fire.† The album is a 16 song track of romance. Every song on this album was about being in love. The band originates from San Francisco, California. They have an upbeat rhythm to their songs so it is easy to dance to. The album is a blast in the past with Neal Schons excellent guitarist talent in the song â€Å"One More†. I think the album is very bland and most of the songs sound the same. But the album cover did interest me a lot. i like how it makes no sense and does not connect with any of the song names or lyrics. And i like how they use space themes for most of their album covers. We will write a custom essay sample on Trial By Fire by Journey or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They are different from the rest by not putting their band picture on any of their album covers. I don’t normally like love songs but this album was okay for me.