Superfact 12: The United States is both a Republic and a Democracy
I believe that most people do not find that statement surprising in the least. When I became a citizen of the United States, through naturalization (I am originally from Sweden), I had to learn about the US government, and I was told by the US government officials that the United States is both a Republic and a Democracy.
However, I’ve come across a lot of people who state something like “The United States is a Republic and therefore not a Democracy” as if being a Republic and a Democracy are mutually exclusive. Well, as this article explains it is not. To be very specific, the United States is a “federal constitutional representative democracy.” Because the United States is indeed both a Republic and a Democracy and yet many would dispute that fact, I consider this to be a super-fact.
This is an article from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services on the topic that confirms that the United States is a Republic and a Democracy. This is an article from NPR on the topic. This is what the Wikipedia entry on the United States says under the headline “Government and politics” “It is a liberal representative democracy “in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.””
It should be noted that United States is not a Direct Democracy, like ancient Greece, but it features some aspects of it in referendums. Just like most democracies around the world. Another thing to note is that the Economists Intelligence Unit downgraded the United States from a full democracy to a flawed democracy in 2016. But it is still a democracy.
Is the United States a democracy?
If you ask google / AI this question “Is the United States a democracy?”. The answer you get is:
The United States is a representative democracy. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. These officials represent the citizens’ ideas and concerns in government.
When I asked ChatGPT the same question (Is the United States a democracy?) I got this answer:
Yes, the United States is considered a democracy, but more specifically, it is a representative democracy or democratic republic. In a pure democracy, citizens directly vote on all laws and policies. In a representative democracy, like in the U.S., citizens elect officials (such as members of Congress, the president, and local representatives) who make decisions and pass laws on their behalf.
The U.S. system is also based on the principles of constitutional democracy, where the rule of law, individual rights, and the separation of powers (between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches) are foundational. The Constitution guarantees these principles, which are designed to protect minority rights while allowing majority rule through democratic elections.
In summary, the U.S. combines democratic elements with a framework that ensures checks and balances to prevent abuses of power.
Partisan politics aside, the consensus seems to be that the United States is both a Republic and a Democracy.
To see the other Super Facts click here
Newstrade
Thank you so much for such an interesting article. I learned many things I didn’t know 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks also for sharing the links to this series of super facts
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Thank you so much for your kind comment Luisa. I am hoping to make 100’s of super facts.
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Truly my pleasure, dear Thomas 🙏
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Thanks for this. On the one hand, it contains no surprises for me. When someone says, “We’re a republic, not a democracy,” I want to ask them if they missed a whole year of 7th grade civics. On the other, it was nice to read the US Citizen and Immigration Services material. I got my citizenship the easy way. I was born here.
I was only five or so when my mother was naturalized so, I don’t remember it very well. I don’t recall when her sister was naturalized, but it was probably before I was born.
The NPR article was also interesting: a nice, nuanced read.
So, thanks, Thomas.
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Wow you took time to read all that Denise. But I agree with you, it is interesting reading. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services certainly know what they are talking about. The teachers and examiners explains all this to immigrants. I may have forgotten some facts now, but right after passing I think I knew a lot more about the US government than most Americans born here do. I’ve also learned a lot about how the US Government works via my volunteer work with CCL. If you don’t understand the facts you are easy to bamboozle. I did not know your mother was an immigrant. Thank you for your very interesting comment.
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“but right after passing I think I knew a lot more about the US government than most Americans born here do. I’ve also learned a lot about how the US Government works via my volunteer work with CCL. If you don’t understand the facts you are easy to bamboozle.”
Yes. And this is part of the problem, I believe. Granted, there are things I don’t know, but I read the blessed paper, and I vote.
Yes, Mom is an immigrant from Germany. She came here when she was about 15. I think it’s part of the reason my sympathy is automatically with immigrants. When politicians rant against immigrants, I immediately write them off. There are legitimate concerns; these need to be addressed like adults with compassion and cool heads.
In my mind, the former administration committed no greater crime than when it separated innocent children from their parents at the border.
Okay, enough ranting for the day. 🙂
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I did not know that. It is great to know a little bit more about you.
Yes it amazes me when you meet people who insist on spreading myths as if they know much more than everyone else but it turns out they don’t even know the basics. I guess that is the problem. People who lack a solid foundation on a topic can easily be tricked into thinking they know more than others, especially when most people indeed lack a solid foundation as well. I liked your rant. It contains a lot of truth. It seems like immigrants are not getting a fair shake anywhere in the world today. The separation of children from their parents was unnecessary and cruel, and a shame. After talking to a lot of politicians I’ve come to realize that they often rant against things (immigrants, for example) to try to score points with their base. They may not even truly believe what they are saying. Their top priority is getting elected and the primaries have become more important than the actual elections. Thank increasingly extreme gerrymandering for that. Here in Texas gerrymandering has gone nuts and it is creating non-competitive districts. I am living in a snake shaped district and before that my district was specifically created for a specific congressman. Basically the congressman chose his voters instead of voters choosing him.
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At the risk of setting off on another rant, I empathize with you on the gerrymandering. It’s so insidious, and so anti-democratic.
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Yes the constitution does not state how districts should be drawn, or whether to even have districts, so the whole thing is completely unnecessary. Redistricting has become a partisan tool but there are a lot of great suggestions on how to do this in a non-partisan way that would make the districts more competitive. Unfortunately any of these great suggestions would have to be pushed through from above or via referendum because no party benefitting from it in any state would voluntarily agree on it.
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You have written and interesting piece Thomas… And of course you have the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights… Which is crucial in helping keep the peoples freedoms… Especially as we are seeing many freedoms around the world being eroded by their governments who in my own opinion are over stepping their authorities over their peoples…
Thank you for sharing Thomas.. xx Have a great week ahead x
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Yes I totally agree with all you are saying. The Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights are wonderful documents and like you say, are crucial in helping keep the peoples freedoms. Unfortunately, it is not that way in many places around the globe. I should mention that the reason I wrote this post is because I’ve seen in many places online that people argue that the United States is a Republic, which it is, and therefore not a Democracy, but that part is false. The United States is a democracy. It is easy to fool people when they don’t much about the subject. Sweden my native country is a monarchy, like the UK, and yet a democracy. The motivation behind the “not democracy” claims seems to be to tell people that voting/democracy is not important. It is an authoritarian message to prepare people to accept for a nation without voting.
Thank you so much Sue and wish you a great rest of the weekend and a great week ahead.
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HI Thomas, thanks for this post. I basically knew this but it is great to have it clarified. I wonder if this will remain the same going forward as flawed democracy does seem to be correct, currently.
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Thank you Robbie. A flawed democracy is still a democracy but not as nice as a full democracy. The people who insist on that USA being a Republic means that it is not Democracy tend to do so, not to complain about it being a flawed democracy, but to downplay the importance of democracy alltogether. Basically, as a step towards removing voting rights.
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A frightening idea
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if I want to know something about the US or English, I often have a better chance of getting the correct answer from a new citizen lol
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LOL yes the citizenship test should maybe be part of highschool.
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They wanted to do that in New Hampshire. High school students would have had to take the citizenship test to graduate. Parents protested because they thought that would mean their kids would lose their citizenship so it was tabled.
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Patti, I think that seemed like a good idea. It was strange that parents thought their kids would lose their citizenship if they failed the test. That does not even make sense. I wonder if someone spread rumors.
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YES!!! I’ve said this for years! Also on my list of druthers is no one gets out high school without fluency in English and one other language regardless of what that language is! I know. What a dreamer.
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Ha ha I think I agree with you on “no one gets out high school without fluency in English and one other language regardless of what that language is” but I can see how the latter part of that might be too much to ask for. I remember when a fellow parent in our daughter’s soccer team told me that in his opinion they should not teach any foreign languages in school because it divides the country. I did not argue but I did not think that was a well thought out opinion. To me that sounded like “we should not teach math because it enables taxation”. Just a joke. Learning a second and third language is considered a good thing, if not a necessary thing, in every European country, including my native country Sweden, and it does not divide any countries. It creates a smarter work force.
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“I remember when a fellow parent in our daughter’s soccer team told me that in his opinion they should not teach any foreign languages in school because it divides the country.”
Huh? So, the answer is everyone in the world learns English? Oh, that makes sense.
I grew up hearing German in my home. Many of our neighbors spoke Polish or Russian at home. Many people I worked with in the pharmacy spoke languages like Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Persian. More people speaking these languages would create ties. I also think teaching languages in school would help preserve languages like Hawaiian and other indigenous languages that are disappearing.
I imagine it’s the same in Texas—there are a lot of jobs here in California that Spanish and English are both required to function.
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So many things are going by the wayside. In years past electives included a section of languages, art, fitness, cooking, sewing, etc. are schools going backwards? The idea was to create well rounded learning. Not wholly a preparation for college. College isn’t for everyone and now some voices are being raised about whether it’s truly worth the debt anyway
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Yes I believe you are right da-AL. We need people to be well rounded so that they can understand a little bit of what is going on in science, the world, the government, etc. School is not just preparation for college, and like you say it has become very expensive here in the US. In Sweden where I grew up tuition is free.
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That looks like a very interesting book. I can add that if you want to write short links for Amazon books you just add dp and the ASIN number or the 10 digit ISBN number to the amazon base (works for any country), like this in the case for the US
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316505110
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And in addition, like you mention, practical skills that gets you through every day life
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Maybe this book would be interesting for either of you? About one single mom’s struggle with college. https://www.amazon.com/Maid-Hard-Work-Mothers-Survive/dp/0316505110/ref=asc_df_0316505110?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80539288569497&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138859664606&psc=1
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I think so. I’ve known more than one person in that situation. Thanks.
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Oh I meant to reply this one so another example, Canada this time
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0316505110
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I agree, it seems like he thought everyone should speak English and nothing else. He was apparently unaware of the fact that a lot of people, if not most, would consider such thinking as a bit “daft”, like he’s never been outside his village. But a lot of people have very narrow views about a lot of stuff.
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I think there are other benefits to learning a second language as well. Apparently it improves memory, enhances cognitive development, and delays dementia. Even though those things can be achieved through other means, such as solving puzzles, it also helps you think in different ways, and help you understand other cultures more easily. In Europe learning languages is viewed as something healthy and you can impress someone by speaking multiple languages.
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I think you’re right about that.
I’ve forgotten almost all what little German I knew. I didn’t realize until I got to college and tried to speak to other people that what I’d learned at home was almost entirely dialect. That was embarrassing. I stopped trying to speak it.
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I learned German back in school, for five years, but I’ve forgotten most of it by now. But I am learning French and I am more serious with that.
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Hi Thomas. You’ve given a wonderful explanation of republican and democracy. I enjoy your facts presentations. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your kind words Debby.
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🙂 🙂
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You explain this well. When people say it is a republic and not a democracy, this is what they mean, that the U.S. is not a direct democracy.
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Yes the US and other democracies are not direct democracies (like ancient Greece), but they have elements of direct democracy in referendums. You might be right that “direct democracy” is what many who say “not democracy” have in mind, but it does not seem to the case in many other cases.
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Thanks for this nice explanation of how the United States is both a republic and a democracy. Like many here, I remember that from school, but some people like to spin the subtle distinctions to their own advantages. Hopefully we can take steps to fix the “flawed” part of our democracy.
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Thank you so much David. I think you are right, so many try spin definitions or details for their agendas.
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