US Democracy vs Republic

The cluster debates whether the United States is a democracy, a constitutional republic, or a democratic republic, focusing on distinctions between direct democracy, representative democracy, and republican government structures.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Politics & Society
3,215
Comments
20
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5
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#7903
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Activity Over Time

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Keywords

US NZ theatlantic.com stanford.edu cato.org USA i.e object.cato democracy republic representative constitutional democratic democracies monarchy majority government usa

Sample Comments

ItsTotallyOn Aug 25, 2025 View on HN

I thought the US was a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

salvadors Nov 4, 2009 View on HN

You seem to be confusing several different concepts. Most countries have representative democracy, rather than direct democracy. This is largely orthogonal to the issue of being a republic, which (in this context, and in over-simplified terms) simply means that there are certain things that even a majority vote can't achieve, as the majority is also bound by the Constitution (in an attempt to avoid the classic problem of two wolves and a sheep voting for what to have for dinner)

mbell Oct 11, 2011 View on HN

The USA is not a Democracy (in the pure sense), it is a Democratic Republic, this is a critical difference that is missed or not understood by the majority of the populous and is critically important not only in this instance but in the general case.

sandworm101 Jun 30, 2022 View on HN

It isn't a democracy. It is a republic. It is rule by the people via a very specific system, one that isn't about simple majority rule.

HeWhoLurksLate May 13, 2019 View on HN

I believe you have terms misconstrued.What we in the US have is a representative democracy / republic that is also rather decentralized federation (states and state's rights) as well.The US is a democracy. 🇺🇸

riprowan Apr 17, 2016 View on HN

Obviously, since the US is not a democracy, but a representative republic.

whythre Dec 4, 2020 View on HN

It’s almost like the US is a representational republic, not a democracy.

coldtea Nov 15, 2020 View on HN

It's not a democracy, it's a federal republic.

riboflava Aug 16, 2016 View on HN

It is a democracy. A Constitutional Republic is just one way of implementing a democracy, similar to how a constitutional monarchy is just one way of implementing a monarchy. Mob rule everyone votes on everything and even a majority by one decides everything is another (poor) way of implementing democracy.

positus Apr 21, 2022 View on HN

Small clarification: the US is not a democracy. It is a democratic *republic*.