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The term republic does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, but it does appear in Article IV of the Constitution, which "guarantee[s] to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government." What exactly the writers of the constitution felt this should mean is uncertain.
First Brazilian Republic (1894–1930) Democracy: Democracy, meaning "rule of the people", is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as "rule of the majority".
Like all categories discerned within forms of government, the boundaries of government classifications are either fluid or ill-defined. Superficially, all governments have an official de jure or ideal form. The United States is a federal constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a federal socialist republic.
In a parliamentary republic, the head of government is selected or nominated by the legislature and is also accountable to it. The head of state is usually called a president and (in full parliamentary republics) is separate from the head of government, serving a largely apolitical, ceremonial role. In these systems, the head of government is ...
The utility company claimed that the use of referendums, as a form of direct democracy, violated the republican form of government clause, which permits only a representative democracy. [21] The court rejected the challenge, finding the challenge to have presented a nonjusticiable political question that only Congress can resolve.
Republic: "A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch." [1] Democracy: "A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives." [2]
In Pacific States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Oregon, the Supreme Court was asked to invalidate referendums (a form of direct democracy rather than representative democracy) permitted by state law, on the ground that they violate the Guarantee Clause's republican form of government requirement. The court refused to invalidate referendums.
The term republic has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected head of state, such as a president, serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary monarch as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed head of ...