When A Conservative Says 'America Isn't A Democracy, IT'S A REPUBLIC!'

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[nealgrey]

In grade school, I pledged allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands.

[thehza]

Ask them to define 'democracy' and 'republic.' They won't be able to, but then you'll be able to teach them what each means and show them that they aren't mutually exclusive.

[thumbhead]

In the words of renegade cut "yes, thank you for restating the problem as though it were an answer".

[JohnnyBoy.]

If you read the federalist papers you'll find why it in fact is a constitutional republic.

[HordeLord]

My response is usually to say that we are supposed to be a democratic republic, but we function like a Plutocratic Corporatocracy.

[ThePinkMan]

Conservatives usually bring this up in discussions about voting rights. Putting aside the semantic arguments about what constitutes a "democracy" or a "republic, " I think the core issue of the discussion is about how much power a voter should have. Different people have different opinions, but from what I've observed, conservatives just tend to be more OK with voter suppression and disenfranchisement, especially if it gets their side elected. Saying "The US isn't a democracy, it's a republic" is just a way of hand-waving any criticism.

[cultmecca]

The best comeback to its not a democracy its a republic is to say: "yeah, so is China, Eritrea, and North Korea. Sweden, the UK, and Norway aren't republics though." All a republic means is that your government is organized as such where you don't have a monarch. You can have democratic republics and authoritarian republics. Claiming the US is a republic is not the argument they think it is. Its like making the claim that water is wet and thinking you've made a solid point or added to the conversation in any way

[ismeal]

I hate that retort from conservatives because its a sad attempt at a "well actually", when what it actually does instead is inform the other person in the conversation that they're politically illiterate. Firstly, a democracy and a republic are not mutually exclusive, they can both be present in a political system, and secondly, our political system does have elements of a democracy and elements of a republic.

[meoff]

What matters is what is in the Constitution. Not what we call our government type.
North Korea was named the Democratic People's Republic by a dictator. Food for thought.

[fafafohigh]

What Sam should've said was give your father the definition of a federal republic:
a country that is governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader rather than by a king or queen

Republicans do not know this and only like the word republic because it is the root word of "republican"

[jaredharmer]

My favorite way to do it is with an analogy:
Saying we’re a democracy not a republic is like pointing at a block of cheddar cheese and saying “that’s not cheese it’s cheddar!”
It’s nonsense

[jonathanjollimore]

it's a democratic republic yea wtf are they talking about

[itsROMPERS...]

"Democracy" means the people actually vote directly for laws and bills, "Republic" means the people vote for representatives that vote for them.
But this country was literally called a "Democratic Republic" by the founders, so the differentiation is trivial.
Under either name, the Republicans are doing it wrong by ignoring the wishes of the people.

[smaakjeks]

Up next: When a conservative says "it's not FREE healthcare!"

[TheBasedGreeg]

I would remind them that a Republic is literally just a type of Democracy…

[wvu]

All a republic means is that there is no monarch. "Republic, not a democracy" is the equivalent of saying, "It's not a grape! It's purple."

[occamsaturn]

I never understand when people use this as a gotcha
like
... and that's... good? lol

[bombattzorzz]

Democracy is a core principle of a republic. "This is a republic, not a democracy" is such idiotic, dem/repub "gotcha" catchphrase that is utterly meaningless.

[feedingravens]

Germany is a Federal Republic.

No one here would for a single second say Germany is not a democracy
(well, except a few Reichsbürger (SocCits)).

France is also a Republic (Republique) and a democracy.

Republic means nothing more than "not a kingdom (anymore)" in the time they were founded.

[daguard]

From what I can remember, Ben Franklyn was asked what kind of government we had. His reply was "A Democratic Republic, if we can keep it." The outcome is that that idea has been seriously eroded by the two party system and gerrymandering. We have states that forbid members of their Judaical system from belonging to a political party. Sound outrageous? There were several members of the Founding Fathers that tried to ban political parties. We are now witnessing the twilight of this empire in that most of our government thinks tax money funds are little more than a piggy bank and that their main desire is power and plutocracy.