Democracy v. Republic.
Whenever someone makes a point of distinguishing the republican form of government that our Founding Fathers set up from a democracy, as did a letter writer in the August 15 News, I wonder what that person is meaning to say.A suitable definition for "republic" as conceived by our forefathers is "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" (Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary). Another name for this form of government is "indirect or representative democracy."
It is not an error to call our system of government a "democracy."
David Trachtenberg
Lake Worth
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| Title Annotation: | Letters |
|---|---|
| Author: | Trachtenberg, David |
| Publication: | Florida Bar News |
| Article Type: | Letter to the editor |
| Date: | Sep 1, 2007 |
| Words: | 115 |
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