There has not been a true democracy since ancient greece for a state, though numerous tribes in europe have tried it in regions during roman times. Democracy is a failed idea, it is always the majority voting to oppress the minority. A republic is representative democracy, it takes the better ideas of democracy but adds a direct layer between the people and the laws, but also holds govt more accountable to the people.
It is not the most ideal system, but it is the best of what we have, and has done better at protecting minorities than other systems have excluding some dictatorships, however minority protection is not uniform among dictatorships either.
Thank you.
I am so tired of seeing this hashed and rehashed for no good reason.
Why is there no good reason? Because, as beer just pointed out, there aren't any existing examples of a pure or direct democracy and never have been beyond the small handful of ancient examples.
Democracy in its pure form is like oxygen. Mammals do not breathe pure oxygen, they breathe a specific mixture of gases of which oxygen makes up about 21 percent here on Earth. The oxygen we breathe is "buffered" in a mixture of other gases, all working in balance.
And likewise, here on Earth pure democracy does not exist but rather, a republic, consitutional or otherwise, will enshrine democratic representation into the framework. Thus all applications of democracy are "buffered" by operating in a framework, and that framework usually winds up being a republic.
Some British people use slang in referring to their cars as a "motor", but that doesn't mean that British cars only consist of a motor and nothing else, it means that the "motor" operates inside of the chassis of a motor vehicle, a CAR.
Thus, when someone says that "America is a democracy", they aren't saying that it's a direct democracy.
Thus the argument that "America is not a democracy" is pure nonsense.
Anyone with any critical thinking skills knows that the democracy operates in this country via elected representatives.
They also know that all cars have some kind of motor, thus if you hear a Brit say that they love to drive their motor, it can safely be assumed that they aren't saying that they like to sit astride a running engine, it means they like to drive their MOTOR-CAR.
And this whole "America is not a democracy" trope is just more nonsense from groups which seek to marginalize the importance OF democracy. And some of those groups have a specific reason: Some groups intend to replace democracy with theocracy.
To do that, one first needs to soften up the target, perhaps by mumbling the same tropes repeatedly over a period of decades, so that others get used to hearing that "America is not a democracy".
Uhhhh, YEAH...it IS a democracy.
Yeah, it's a constitutional republic, but it operates as a framework which contains representative democracy.
