I sometimes hear the argument that “we live in a republic, not a democracy.” I would like to think about this statement for a minute here. First, let’s consider why this statement is usually uttered. In my experience, it is usually to make the argument that letting the people decide an issue by majority vote is either impractical or unwise. They conjure up a picture of a system where everyone gathers en masse on a regular basis to debate and vote on every minutiae of government. Such a system would be nigh unto impossible to administer in a nation of over 320 million people. Furthermore, if Facebook is any indicator of public discourse, such a system would likely devolve into an ineffectual shouting match or, worse, a riotous mob. The seemingly obvious, sensible alternative, then, would be to elect representatives periodically who will be empowered to make decisions on the people’s behalf.
This comparison is vivid, but it’s inaccurate. It confuses ancient Athenian style direct-democracy with the modern understanding of the term, and offers the idea of a republic as a false sort of anti-democracy. So, let’s check the dictionary and get a better handle on what these terms mean. I’ll be using Merriam-Webster as my source, as its definition reads at present (October 2020). For democracy, the primary definition has two parts: one, government by the people (especially rule of the majority); and two, a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. By this definition, we are in fact a democracy. Any high school civics teacher would probably happily explain that authority in the United States is supposed to flow up from the people, rather than down from a monarch (or executive). The fact that we elect representatives is only an incidental feature of how we practice democracy, but our government by the people makes us one.
What, then, is a republic? Merriam-Webster offers this definition, once again in two parts: one, a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president; and two, a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law. So, we have no king, and authority rests with citizens who elect representatives. We are a republic.
These two words have extremely similar meanings. At most we have a rectangle/square situation, where all republics are a democracies, but not all democracies are republics. However, to say that we live in a republic and not a democracy is an entirely false statement. Why, then, do people say it? Do they really think that whatever idea they are dismissing with this pithy line is tantamount to direct-democracy? Are they trying to justify minority rule? Are they trying to imply that because we live in a small-r republic that we should favor big-R Republicans? Whatever the case, it’s important for people to understand what this phrase actually says, nothing.