Posted by
Andrews on Monday, December 31, 2007 3:57:57 AM
I cringe to think that in several places I refer to our government as democratic. I am sure that sooner or later I will be taken to task by one of those "constitutional republic" fanatics.
Is there anything more annoying than these people? Yes, yes, technically our government is a constitutional republic. It is not a direct participatory democracy. We all know that.
On the other hand, a constitutional republic such as we have, does operate by democratic vote for office holders, and thus does have democratic features. So to speak of democracy as a feature of our republic is not wrong. Nor is it wrong to speak loosely of our state as a democratic state.
It is akin to me saying "As a mammal I have hair and I am warm blooded" only to have you respond "But you are a primate not a mammal!" Yes, I am a primate, but primates are a variety of mammals,and so mammalian rules apply.
Likewise a constitutional republic is one form of democratic government. Participatory democracy is another. You make a mistake by thinking when we say we live in a democracy we mean we live in a participatory democracy. No, what we mean is that we live in a state run by one of the many forms of democratic governance.
Yes our state places checks on absolute democracy, making it difficult for direct mob rule by the majority. But despite that our state is still a democratic one.
So, please, stop lecturing us on constitutional republics whenever we say "democracy" in reference to the United States. It is getting quite tiresome.