Are we a Democracy or are we a Republic?

One of the common arguments I hear across the entire internet is the debate about whether or not the Government of the United States of America is a Republic or a Democracy. The answer is not as simple as people may think it is. Allow me to explain.

First you have to realize there are several different recognized types of Democracies and several different recognized types of Republics. When Democracy is brought up, what people typically think of is this:

a form of governance in which people decide (e.g. vote on, form consensus on) policy initiatives directly.

This is what is known as Direct Democracy. And while it is true that the government as a whole is not run via this model, we DO have elements of Direct Democracy within our system. Every time you fill out a ballot initiative, plebiscite, or referendum, whatever your area calls them, you are participating in direct democracy, where your voice is considered among your fellow citizens on key issues such as the minimum wage or getting money out of politics.

However, there is ANOTHER variant of Democracy, and it is defined this way:

a type of governance founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy.

This more accurately describes our system of governance than a direct democracy ever could. This is known as Representative Democracy. However, it also sounds similar to the definition of another type of governance, described here:

a state in which the head of state and other officials are representatives of the people. They must govern within an existing constitution. Executive, legislative, and judicial powers may be separated into distinct branches.

This is the definition of a Constitutional Republic. And it sounds very similar to the definition of a Representative Democracy. The words democracy and republic are so closely related that in this instance, you could really argue that BOTH of these answers are correct!

Does the US System encourage the participation of the public of policy positions via referendum? Yes.

Was the US System founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people? Yes.

Does the US System contain a government where separation of powers exist? Hell yes.

So how about we stop nitpicking? Enough with this need to be right about this one thing and lets all agree that we have a system that has both direct participation as well as empowered representation.

TL;DR: We’re both. So stop arguing.